


Prom King

by thecutestprince



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mentions of Rape, Misunderstandings, Prom, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-06-03 11:29:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6608995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecutestprince/pseuds/thecutestprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Fucking hell!” Danny shouted, screaming into his palms. Sam had given him Dash’s number! And he was damn sure it was no accident.</p><p>(Danny desperately wants to go to prom with Paulina. But he ends up being someone else's prom date instead.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Before you start reading, I wanted to give a quick thanks to textsfromghosts from tumblr, who's post was inspiration for this fic. Thanks again!
> 
> (and heres the post, if anyone's curious: http://textsfromghosts.tumblr.com/post/143014249886/dash-hasnt-been-this-excited-for-a-school)

Danny Fenton was going to get a date to prom. He was determined as hell to make sure Tucker wasn’t his date again. Homecoming was enough. It was time he manned up.

However, determination charged by a false sense of masculinity could never outmatch fear of rejection. He knew he could conjure an amazing promposal, what with his ghost powers and ghost friends and whatnot. But instead of coming up with the jaw-dropping promposal sure to sweep Paulina off her feet, Danny could only follow her, abusing his invisibility far too much (whether that be due to his ghost powers, or his lack of presence in general).  And then it was the weekend before prom, and Paulina still hadn’t accepted anyone’s offer, and Danny still hadn’t mustered up the courage to ask her.

He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling above him, feeling the impending doom devouring his insides. Paulina was sure to accept an offer soon. Maybe she was being picky, or maybe she was waiting for someone specific to ask her, and Danny couldn’t help but picture himself as that specific someone. But if he didn’t ask, she’d never say yes, and she’d wind up going to prom with Dash or something. Ugh.

But he couldn’t bring himself to ask her! The thought of going all out, trying his best to provide an amazing promposal filled with balloons, flowers, and, hell, even fireworks, only to be turned down by Paulina…

He wouldn’t be able to handle it. He would expose his identity as Danny Phantom right then and there, if only to be able to turn invisible or intangible and sink into the ground and straight to hell. He was a wimp and he knew it.

But he had to try. Damn it, he had to at least try. He pulled out his phone and texted Tucker.

Danny: hey tuck, youre smart right??

Tucker: u kno it 8)

Danny: can you get me paulina’s number?

Tucker: danny, im smart, not a miracle worker

Tucker: how u expect me to pull paulina’s Sacred Phone Number right out of my ass and hand it to u on a silver platter, i dont kno

Danny: i hate you thanks

Danny sighed. With Tucker being of absolutely no help, he put his hopes on Sam. But, seeing as he was asking for help with Paulina, she’d probably be less than willing to help.

Danny: sam youre smart right??

Sam: i’d like to think so

Danny: can you get me paulina’s number?

Sam: ew wtf

Danny: pleaseeeeee

Sam: why

Danny: i want to ask her to prom :( really badly :( i dont want to date tucker again please :( :( :(

Sam: ugh

Sam: fine

And then the digits where there. All ten numbers, a seemingly random assortment, but no, these numbers were carefully aligned, not unsimilar to the stars in the sky, to form Paulina’s number. He wasn’t sure how Sam had the number, but he wasn’t going to ask questions. This was no time for questions.

This was time for action.

He didn’t bother to thank Sam. He was too busy immediately typing the number into his phone, and then, typing up a response. An estimated time of twenty minutes was spent typing, deleting, re-typing, reading, deleting, re-typing, and re-reading. At this rate, he’d never send the message.

When he was sure there were absolutely no typos in the text, he shut his eyes and sent it. One quick impulse. His stomach filled with an odd mixture of regret, excitement, and pathetic hope.

Danny: Hey, so, I know asking over text isn’t exactly what you’d want. I’m sure you want something bigger, like flowers and fireworks, and you deserve that. But I can’t wait any longer. I’d much rather tell you personally than make a show of it, anyways. It would be too complicated, I’m sure. Anyways, what I’m trying to ask here is… will you go to prom with me?

A couple minutes had passed by with no response. He nervously began to type a follow up text.

Danny: I’ll pick you up in my car, of course, and it doesn’t even have to be romantic, you know? It’ll only go as far as you’d want it to. I just want to spend the night with you, you know? I’d love to spend prom with you.

“Oh god,” Danny groaned, tossing his phone aside and hiding his face behind crossed arms. Shit shit shit. He was freaking out. With every passing second, every minute that his phone didn’t vibrate, the desire to vomit became stronger and stronger. And when his phone finally did vibrate, it took a lot to hold back the vomit crawling up his throat. He scrambled for his phone and quickly unlocked it with shaking hands.

Paulina: oh wow, that’s corny as hell

Shit. Was that good, or bad? Danny couldn’t tell. He bit his lip and waited for further responses.

Paulina: do you really mean that? you want to spend the night with me? god i’m boring as hell unless i’m drunk as fuck, ask kwan.

Boring as hell? Drunk as fuck? Kwan?

Okay, Paulina would never admit she was anything less than perfect, and she would never utter _any_ words that implied she was not the most interesting girl on the planet. Unless, maybe Danny had caught her in a vulnerable moment, and she was willing to admit insecurities to him?

His phone vibrated again.

Paulina: but hey! if you want to go with me, who am i to say no?

Paulina: I’d love to go with you, Fenton. I’ll go to prom with you.

Oh my god.

Paulina: also tbh if i knew you were out of the closet, i totally wouldve asked you, js lmao

This was not Paulina. Sam hadn’t given him Paulina’s number.

_SAM._

Danny: dash

Dash: yeah?

“ _Fucking hell!_ ” Danny shouted, screaming into his palms. Sam had given him Dash’s number! And he was damn sure it was no accident.

Dash: shit wait, did you mean to send this to someone else?

Oh god, there was no going back, was there? Dash had basically admitted that he _wanted_ to be Danny’s prom date. Did he have a crush on Danny? Since when? Since he stopped shoving his head into toilet bowls?

Jesus, this was a mess. Danny sat up and stared at his reflection, at his flushed cheeks and messy hair and wide eyes.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't crush Dash like that, it would be too embarrassing for him. He had to go with it, he had to.

There was no going back.

Danny: no!! of course not, haha. I was just wondering, um, do you want to like, match or something? We can like, wear the same suit color or something?

Dash: ew no, what are we, the twins from the shining? gross, we have to be the hottest couple there alright? we’ll match dress shirts and ties, yeah?

Dash: okay i have some ideas but i need to do homework first, so i’ll text you later

Danny: yeah no problem!

Dash: talk to you later

Danny let out a deep sigh, exhaustion suddenly taking over his entire body. How would he explain this to his parents? He’d have to take prom pictures with Dash, then show up at prom with Dash, and the entire school would be watching, whispering.

His prom was officially ruined, and he knew who was to blame.

Danny: Samantha Andrea Manson

Sam: dont call me that!

Danny: why

Sam: why what (:

Danny: why have you done this to me

Sam: omg did he say YES

Danny: YES HE SAID FUCKING YES HE WANTED TO ME TO BE HIS DATE FROM THE START AAAA

Sam: OMG AAAAAAA

Danny: STOP

Sam: i didnt see this one coming danny. i did not. holy shit this is incredible hold on this is group chat worthy

Danny: S T O P

His phone buzzed immediately after sending that response.

Sam: DANNY HAS A DATE TO PROM AND ITS NOT PAULINA GUESS WHO IT IS HINT ITS FCUKGN DASH

Tucker: WUT

Sam: YEAH!!!!! Y EA AHH

Danny: guys please stop please

Tucker: i can’t believe this. u r dumping me :’(

Tucker: how did this happen though what the wtf

Danny: i asked sam for paulina’s number and she gave mE DASH’S NUMBER

Danny: SO I SENT DASH A PROMPOSAL NOT PAULINA

Sam: (:

Tucker: dude thats brutal omg

Sam: to be fair i didn’t think he would say yes i thought he’d just laugh at you and ruin your chances with paulina!

Danny: oh yeah that makes everything better

Tucker: ok so you sent dash a message under the assumption that it was paulina

Tucker: so it was this corny ass nerd shit right

Danny: ugh

Danny: yeah whatever

Tucker: and he said YES?

Sam: he has a crush on danny dude he *wanted* danny to ask him!

Tucker: DASH BAXTER

Tucker: A CRUSH ON DANNY

Tucker: WHAT IS GOING ON

Sam: I KNOW RIGHT

Danny: honestly there are tears streaming down my face

Sam: omg danny honestly i’m so sorry but like… this is Gold alright this is Grade A Shite right here i love this

Sam: like not only are you not going with paulina, you’re going with dash, meaning paulina’s not going with anyone!!

Sam: she’ll probably just go with Kwan and everyone will know that’s a last ditch effort!!

Sam: i love this i’ve reached ascension

Danny: honestly sam fuck off

Danny: i have to deal with my parents! they don’t know i’m gay!

Danny: i dont know im gay what the shitting hell

Tucker: i didn’t know either dude

Sam: just! be open about this! Dash likes you! so he wont be as insufferable as usual!!

Danny: ugh whatever

Danny silenced the group chat. He noticed he had a message from Dash and opened it.

Dash: thanks for asking me btw. like i said i kind of wanted to ask you but i was too chicken. also this saves me the pain of having to go to another school event as paulina’s date lmao fuck that

Danny found himself laughing. Maybe it was all the nerves, but a laugh that brought tears to his eyes overtook him until his cheeks hurt and his stomach burned.

He was not ready for prom. Not one bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy okay im in Hell  
> i honestly was prepared to write a quick one shot about this, but honestly, it ended up working better as a chaptered fic. i don't think it'll exceed five chapters? but there will be angst, and it will be a wf ul  
> anyways lets give it up for my first danny phantom fic yeeee  
> thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Danny decided to shower to calm his nerves. He spent an estimated time of fifty-two minutes standing in the shower, and thirty-seven minutes sitting in the corner of his bathroom, air-drying and contemplating life. 

He shuffled back to his room with a towel draped lazily over his damp hair. He fell back onto his bed and saw that his phone’s notification light was blinking. When he clicked his phone on, he had several unread messages from Dash.

Dash: okay i think i’m gonna wear this

Attached to the message was an image of a dress shirt. Danny clicked the image to enlarge it.

Oh, wow. Danny hadn’t expected Dash to have such  _ taste _ . The dress shirt was white, and the sleeves were covered in flowers surrounded by a red background. The collar of the shirt was also red, with the same flowered pattern peppering the collar. The man modelling the dress shirt was rolling up the end of his sleeve, displaying that the inside of the sleeves were also a crisp, white color. 

Danny tried imagining Dash modelling the shirt instead. It would be quite a sight, seeing his muscular arms wrapped in floral fabric. It would look good on him, definitely. 

Danny read the next message.

Dash: also i think you’d look really good in this one.

Danny opened the next image. Well, it seemed Dash was sticking to the floral pattern. Danny’s dress shirt was a navy one, somewhat the opposite of Dash’s shirt. The floral pattern was white, and was limited to only the torso of the shirt, leaving the collar and sleeves blank. The buttons of this shirt were black, and when you looked at the rolled up sleeves of the shirt, you could see floral imprint on the inside. 

Danny tried to imagine himself in it. 

He would look  _ amazing _ .

Dash: i think you get the theme lmao

Danny tried to shove away the uncomfortableness from before and typed up a response.

Danny: i dont. explain it to me?

Dash: the theme is underwater sea creatures

Danny: ahhh i see it now

Danny: in all seriousness though, how am i gonna get that shirt this late notice

Dash: what are you, a medium?

Danny: yeah

Dash: cool i ordered it.

Danny: nooooo wtf how much did it cost you

Dash: it didn’t cost me shit my mom’s paying for it

Danny groaned. He felt a little bad, letting someone else pay for something he’d wear, even though Dash hadn’t even given him the chance to offer to pay.

Danny: let me pay for it how much was it

Dash: 50 its actually not that bad at all

Danny: ill pay for it when you give it to me i swear

Dash: haha don’t sweat it fenton

With nothing much else to say, Danny clicked his phone off and set it aside. He went back to staring at the ceiling for a while.

Dash was excited about this. Danny could tell. He’d definitely given this thought beyond today. Maybe he’d been thinking about it all throughout high school, looking forward to his senior prom, bookmarking the tab to buy the dress shirt he’d want. It probably felt like a far-away fantasy to him, being able to decide how his prom would go. If he’d gone with Paulina like originally planned, he’d probably be stuck following her commands, wearing what  _ she’d _ want. 

Danny realized that that was what Dash had been enduring thus far. Each year for homecoming, he’d play his hardest, and instead of getting to relax after a hard game, he’d have to perform the many strenuous labors that came with being Paulina’s designated date. At first, Danny envied him, envied that he’d always get to be Paulina’s date, and the way Dash would practically rub it in his face. But now that he knew that Dash would rather be anyone else’s date, and it was mostly Paulina bossing him around, he realized Dash probably didn’t have it that good.

A sudden wave of anxiety hit Danny. Dash was putting so much effort into this. Dash was looking  _ forward  _ to this, and Danny really wasn’t. He felt awful.

Danny reached for his phone and scrolled through his contacts. When he saw the name “Spazzatron” across the screen, he clicked on it and pressed his phone to his ear.

“Danny?”

“Hey Jazz.”

“Hey little brother! What’s up?”

“Sorry to bother you,” Danny said. He knew Jazz’s life was stressful enough. She was juggling a part time job, a full time university schedule, and a biology internship at the university’s lab. She hardly ever had the chance to talk, let alone visit sometimes. “I hope you’re not busy.”

“Oh, nah! I was just studying; I needed a break, actually.” Jazz sighed into the phone, then asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Sort of,” Danny began. He sat up and looked at the full body mirror at the edge of his room, watched the way his face grimaced. “I.. have a date to prom.”

“Oh, hey! That’s good, right?”

“Not really?”

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous.”

“It’s not really that. Okay, let me explain.”

He retold the entire mess to her, trying to make it sound like less of a mess but, with how his words jumbled whenever he was nervous or anxious, he managed to turn a mess into a disaster.

Jazz, however, found the situation hilarious. As did everyone else.

“I’m sorry!” she said through fits of laughter. “I-I’m s-sorry, you’re probably fuh-freaking out and I’m just here  _ laughing _ \- hold on!” Danny could hear her pull the phone away from her ear and could hear odd, distant snorting sounds. Danny scrunched his nose in disgust.

“Alright,” Jazz said, voice much calmer. “I’m okay. I’m done.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay. You don’t want to go with him, right?”

“No,” Danny began, pushing his hair back. “But I’d feel like such an ass, you know? I’d rather just suck it up and take one for the team.”

“Right,” Jazz said. “Well, Danny, it’s up to you, really. Did you want your prom to be super special and perfect?”

“I mean, it’s not a big deal,” Danny shrugged. “I just wanted to achieve a date with Paulina but now I don’t even want  _ that _ . Yeah, it’s not a big deal, so I don’t mind going with Dash but… Dash actually likes me.”

“Yeah.”

“And I  _ don’t _ like him.”

“Uhuh.”

“So, by going to prom with him, I’m-”

“You’re lying to him,” Jazz finished. She exhaled, then hummed in thought. “I see. Maybe you should be honest with him.”

“I really don’t want to. Maybe… maybe I’ll just go to prom with him, and after that I’ll tell him I don’t really feel as strongly for him as he feels for me and we should probably stop things before it escalates, yeah?”

“The whole it’s-not-you-it’s-me crap.”

“Thanks,” Danny deadpanned.

“I’m sorry, Danny! But if someone were going on a date with me out of pity, I’d hate it.”

“Ugh!” Danny groaned, falling back onto his bed. “Stop making me feel bad about lying! That’s all I can do!” 

“Do what you need to do!” Jazz exclaimed. “But I’m not going to lie and say what you’re doing is one hundred percent correct. It’s hardly even fifty percent.”

“I know, I know,” Danny grumbled. “I’m fine with what I’m doing, though. It’ll be fine.”

“Whatever you say,” she singsonged. A beat of silence fell between them, and then Jazz spoke again. “Are you going to kiss him?”

Danny’s face went warm. “I hadn’t thought that far.”

“He might try,” Jazz said. Another beat of silence. “He might try more than that.”

Danny let out a twenty-second nervous groan. Jazz waited patiently until he was done.

“You’ll be fine!” Jazz reassured him. “I’m sure he won’t try that unless he knows you’re a hundred percent about it. Which I’m assuming you’re not.”

“Zero percent, Jazz. Zero percent.” 

“You probably won’t even have to kiss him if he senses you’re not ready for that!”

“I will never be ready, never,” Danny droned, his voice edged with tension. 

“You’ll be okay, little brother,” Jazz said in a soft, reassuring voice. “What are you gonna do about mom and dad?”

“I was going to ask what you think I should do,” Danny admitted.

“I think you should tell them the situation.”

“Good idea. I’ll lie to them and tell them Sam and Tucker are my dates.”

“Awesome.”

“Thanks, Jazz!”

“This isn’t gonna end well!” Jazz shouted into the phone.

“Bye, Jazz.”

“Bye, Danny. Tell me how it all works out, yeah?”

“Yup, I will. Bye.” He hung up the phone and let out a long sigh.

Well, he didn’t feel as anxious as he did before. He still felt guilty about lying, sure, but his conscious would manage. 

‘I mean, I’ve gone this long keeping my identity a secret,’ Danny thought to himself. Yeah, he’d be fine.

 

Monday morning brought dread to Danny Fenton.

It was difficult to sleep. He lay in bed, practically wishing for a ghost to show up and cause trouble somewhere, if only to give Danny something to preoccupy his racing mind. But no, the night was unfortunately silent, and Danny had to spend the night tossing and turning, worrying about the possible events that could unfold at school the next day.

What if the entire school knew? He couldn’t handle it, the possibility of being teased or bullied for his apparent homosexuality. And what if he let it slip that he wasn’t actually gay? 

All these thoughts worried his mind and left him exhausted Monday morning. He tried to get ready as slowly as possible, so that he could drive to school and walk in at the last second, maybe even get stuck in traffic on the way there. God, he had never wished to get stuck in traffic before that morning.

But, unfortunately for him, the streets were clear that morning, and he wound up walking the hallways five minutes before classes were starting. However, no one had even batted an eyelash when he walked in. It seemed that, much to Danny’s relief, word hadn’t spread yet.

Danny walked slowly to his locker, where Sam and Tucker were waiting for him. This was the first time they’d seen Danny since Friday, and they hadn’t gotten to properly pester him about his prom date. The stupidly huge grins on their face made Danny’s face warm up. He glared at them and held up a finger.

“Shh. Not one word.”

“What?” Sam said innocently, pouting her lips.

“Yeah, Danny. We only wanted to  _ congratulate you _ ,” Tucker added.

“Please,” Danny grumbled, pushing past them to open his locker. “I’m already nervous enough.”

“Aww. You gettin’ butterflies?” Sam teased. Danny held his tongue and focused his energy on grabbing the books he needed for his class. 

“I think he’s just excited for his date,” Tucker said. “Who wouldn’t want to date the hottest football player in the team?”

Danny was about to lunge for Tucker when he realized they were being watched. The three teens’ eyes glanced beside them. Across the hallway, Kwan was staring at them, arms crossed. Rather, Kwan was staring at  _ Danny _ .

“Gotta go,” Tucker said, running off to class.

“We’ll be near,” Sam muttered as her eyes glanced towards Kwan again. He was walking towards them. “Just in case you need us.”

Danny could only nod as Sam left his side. He tried to pretend he didn’t see Kwan approaching him, and that he was entirely invested in his Biology book, but when he felt Kwan’s shadow loom over him, he couldn’t ignore him as easily. Danny closed his locker slowly and turned to the football player.

Kwan had a kind face. His smile was sweet, and his eyes were soft. But right now, he didn’t look so kind and friendly. He had a stern look to him, and the seriousness of his face made Danny shrink into himself.

“So,” Kwan began, keeping his voice low. “I heard.”

“Heard what?” 

“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, Danny. Did you honestly think Dash wouldn’t tell me?”

“I mean, I kind of  _ hoped _ he wouldn’t,” Danny muttered.

Kwan hummed, unsatisfied. He straightened his back, as if to try and look more intimidating than he already did. When he spoke, his voice was serious and unwavering. “Listen, Danny, if I find out this is some sort of joke, I will personally kick your ass. And when  _ I’m _ done kicking your ass, I’ll get the rest of the football team to kick your scrawny little ass, too. Got it?”

Well, that was unfair. Danny had  _ definitely _ bulked up since he’d started fighting ghosts. He wouldn’t call himself scrawny. “It’s not a joke,” Danny responded. A misunderstanding, sure. Mistake? Possibly.

“It better not be,” Kwan said sternly, uncrossing his arms. “Oh, and don’t tell Dash I threatened you. He’ll kill me.”

With that, Kwan walked off, leaving Danny a bigger mess than he was before. His legs felt shaky, his stomach weak. Kwan had sounded so dead serious. It was odd, seeing him that way, when Kwan was usually the light-hearted and grounded one of the jocks. Back when they’d use their spare time to mess with him, Danny would often hear Kwan’s voice say, “Alright, guys. That’s enough,” with a regretful tone, like he was the only one in the group to have a conscious. But now, he was threatening him, and Danny had never heard him use such a malicious tone. To hear that usually joking voice spit a threat at him was enough to unnerve him and send him marching towards the nearest bathroom so he could splash cool water against his face.

The bell for class had already rung. He’d probably drowned it out when all his attention was on Kwan. The hallways were empty as he walked to the bathroom, but when he rounded the corner, he skidded to a stop and jumped back. 

Dash was by the bathrooms, talking to a distressed Paulina. Her back was to Danny, but from the way her arms were straight at her sides, fists clenched, and how she was standing on her tiptoes to somehow try and match Dash’s height, Danny could tell she was pissed. Dash was staring down at her, seemingly unbothered. He was leaning against the wall with his arms loosely crossed.

“What do you mean you already have a date?!” Paulina screeched through clenched teeth.

Dash didn’t flinch. “It means what it means. I already have a date, so I’m not going with you.”

“Dash Baxter, you are  _ ruining _ my senior prom!”

“By not letting you ruin mine?” Dash snapped. He shifted on his feet and stood up straight. “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m done being your little puppet, alright? I know it’s going to be hard to accept, but you can’t tell everyone what to do, Paulina.”

“ _ Fuck you _ ,” Paulina hissed, voice low that Danny could hardly catch it. But he did catch it, as well as the poison that dripped from it. Paulina turned and stomped into the bathroom, face as red as the lipstick she wore.

Dash stood still for a while, as if to recompose himself. After a few seconds, he ran a hand through his hair, chuckled lowly, and started walking towards his class. Which just so happened to be in the direction that Danny was standing.

Danny cursed under his breath as he pressed himself against the wall. Dash rounded the corner and almost didn’t see Danny. Almost.

It was like he already knew Danny was standing there. He turned his head slightly to the side, looked Danny straight in the eye, and gave a small, triumphant smile before turning forward and walking away.

Danny’s stomach was in knots. He wasn’t sure what the cause was, whether it was Kwan’s threat, Paulina’s poison, or Dash’s smile. Whatever it was, it cost Danny the first ten minutes of class, which he spent in the bathroom splashing water onto his face and steadying himself against the sink. 

He had the rest of the day to get through.

 

Strangely enough, school that day was pretty normal. As Danny suspected, word hadn’t gotten through that Danny and Dash were prom dates. However, word  _ had _ gotten through that Dash  _ wasn’t _ going to be Paulina’s date to prom this year, and this was very pleasing to Sam.

“Look at her,” Sam said, smirking proudly as she watched how noticeably stricken Paulina was. Every time she passed someone, they’d quickly look away and whisper to whomever was sitting next to them. Paulina had everyone’s attention, and for once, she didn’t want it.

“I wonder who she’ll wind up going with,” Tucker said through mouthfuls of the day’s lunch: hamburgers and sweet potato fries.

“Maybe she won’t even go!” Sam said excitedly. She looked over at Danny with a huge grin on her face. “Can you believe it? I’m  _ actually _ looking forward to prom this year.”

“Wow,” Danny muttered. He hadn’t really contributed much to the conversation. He was too on edge and anxious to be able to enjoy his lunch. His shoulders were tense, the strain running up his neck and clamping his jaw shut. He focused on swirling a fry in ketchup with no intention of eating it. 

“C’mon. Lighten up,” Tucker said. Danny shot him a look.

“I can’t lighten up, Tucker. If anything goes wrong, I may or may not get my ass beat. Even if things go smoothly, I might still get my ass beat once Paulina finds out I’m the reason she’s dateless.”

“Not on my watch,” Sam said. “If Paulina so much as gives you a wrong look, I will personally ruin her.” 

“And I’ll watch,” Tucker added. Now it was Sam’s turn to shoot him a look.

“What? Is the idea of Paulina and I fighting some sort of sexist turn on to you?”

“Honestly Sam, you could beat me up and I’d be mildly aroused.”

Sam reeled back, disgusted. “Don’t ever talk to me again.”

“What?!” Tucker complained. “It’s a compliment!”

“In what fucked up context is that a  _ compliment? _ ” Sam spat.

“Look… Danny!”

“I want no part in this.”

“No, listen,” Tucker began, turning his attention to Danny. “Haven’t you ever seen a hot chick and thought, damn, I want her to punch me in the face. I want her to fucking step on me.”

Tucker waited for a response. All he got were disgusted and slightly horrified looks from his two friends. 

“Tucker,” Danny began, shaking his head. “What the fuck?”

 

The rest of the school day went well. In all honesty, it went a little too well. Dash didn’t try to talk to him that entire day, and whenever he’d pass by his crowd of jocks, Danny would get a knowing smile from Dash. He tried to smile back, but he felt too sick to his stomach. He spent the rest of the evening with Sam and Tucker, who thankfully managed to get rid of the nerves he’d been containing the entire day. 

When he finally got home, he let his parents know over dinner that he, Sam, and Tucker would be going as a group to prom. 

“Danny,” his mother spoke, putting down her after dinner cup of coffee. “Are you, Sam and Tucker… a thing.”

“What? No? None of us are polyamorous.”

“Really?” his dad mused. “Could’ve sworn.”

“I’m going upstairs,” Danny said, quickly excusing himself before the conversation could progress any further. He did find the conversation funny enough to text the details to Sam and Tucker.

Sam: no no we would never work in a poly relationship

Sam: itd just be me taking care of two man children

Tucker: ur just mad cos if we were in a relationship, danny would get most of my attention

Danny: tucker gay it down a little

Tucker: oh i forgot to add the #nohomo my bad 

Tucker: is that better my Precious Hetero

Danny: yes (:

Danny stared at his inbox. His eyes fixed on Dash’s messages. They hadn’t texted since Friday night, when Dash had told him about the dress shirts they’d wear. For some reason, Danny felt oddly compelled to text him. He felt there was quite a bit left unsaid between them, and the fact that they hadn’t really spoken at school that day kind of bugged him. Dash would send a glance his way during class and smile, but then he’d immediately head out the doors when class ended, not bothering to hang back and talk to Danny. Which was fine, for the most part. But he felt like they should communicate a bit more.

Danny decided to text him. What harm could it do?

Danny: hey

Dash: hey fenton. what’s up?

Everytime he got a text from Dash, he would get oddly nervous. Dash was so cool about everything, and Danny was worried about everything. He worried if Dash could sense that from him.

Danny: nothing really. You didn’t really talk to me today

Dash: yeah, sorry. i feel like we should keep things down low

Dash: i dont want paulina slaughtering you before prom night haha

Danny stared at the texts, relieved. He wanted to keep things on the down low! God, that was a huge weight off his shoulders, for sure.

Dash: is that okay tho? haha

Danny smiled. That was more than okay with him.

Danny: no yeah thats fine!!

Danny: i was kind of thinking the same thing actually

Dash: cool (:

Dash: talk to you later fenton. homework :/

Danny: later (:

Danny closed his phone and lay back on his bed, a huge wave of relief washing over him.

He wondered to himself when Dash started being so cool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all, thank you all for your kindness! seriously, 300+ views in just a week? holy heck!! and i cant thank you all enough for your fantastic comments!! ive been looking forward to posting this chapters solely for your guys' reactions (^:  
> anyways, so far, it seems this fic will be five chapters long! i like to post chapters weekly, and hopefully that doesnt change (but finals week may impair this)   
> if you ever want to know how the fic is coming along, or even start a convo about Danny Phantom Hell, my tumblr is thecutestprince and i tend to tag my fic related shit as #dp prom king   
> again, thank you all so much for your kindness and your interest in this fic! i cant do this without your guys' positivity, really.   
> let me know what you guys think about this chapter!! up next: closer interactions between danny and dash (^;


	3. Chapter 3

The entire week went well. There was no talk of Danny and Dash going to prom together, however, people were speculating as to who Dash’s mystery date was. They had to be pretty attractive if Dash chose them over Paulina. The hallways were filled with questions of, “Who could she be?” and, “I wonder if she’s prettier than Paulina?” The sexism and heteronormativity had Sam gagging. 

The secret was overwhelming to Danny. On one hand, it was slightly exciting to be the Mystery Date everyone was wondering about. To be the sexy, mysterious girl everyone was talking about, albeit not identifying as a girl, was kind of cool. Danny hadn’t felt this popular since, well, ever.

But that was the one good aspect of things. Everything else had Danny on the edge all week. As the days passed by, the things he’d been putting off only came closer and closer. Saturday, he would have to essentially come out to the entire school, despite not being gay. Saturday, he would have to take a boy who he didn’t like on a date, and he would have to fake feelings for him, maybe even kiss him. Saturday, he would have so many eyes on him, on his every move. Just the thought had his palms sweating. 

At least his friends did a good job at distracting him. Mostly. The teasing Danny received from Sam and Tucker persisted. Because of this, Danny was hesitant on taking them last minute clothes shopping for prom.

“Please, Danny,” Sam pleaded. “You’re the only one who actually has a working car right now.” Sam’s car had something wrong with its brakes (and might not even be ready for prom the following night) and Tucker managed to get his keys confiscated. It had something to do with 4 am snack run on a school night. Tucker had kept details limited.

“We promise not to tease you the entire ride,” Tucker offered. Danny sighed.

“Fine,” Danny agreed. His two friends cheered.

“Shot gun!” they both shouted in unison, and so it was left to whoever could race across the parking lot the fastest.

 

Sam had ended up winning that contest, so she got the pleasure of riding with Danny in the front while Tucker disregarded seatbelt safety and lay outstretched on the back seats. 

“So,” Sam began, fingers toying with the buttons on the car’s radio, “still nervous?”

Danny glanced sideways at her. She was looking at him expectantly, and from the sound of her voice, she genuinely wanted to know how Danny was feeling about his situation. This wasn’t a setup for a cheap jab. Sam was asking as a friend.

Danny tightened his hands around his steering wheel and sighed. “Sort of, yeah. I mean, Dash is being really nice. It’s kind of unnerving actually,” he laughed. 

“Well, he actually likes you, dude,” Tucker said, head now suddenly poking through the space between their seats.

“I know,” Danny muttered. “It’s kind of surreal.”

“Yeah, I never pegged you as Dash’s type,” Sam said. “Hey, let’s check out the clothes they have here.”

Danny parked at a nearby clothing store that was part of a bigger mall building. They piled out of the car and headed for the sliding front doors, making their way straight to the formal wear section of the store.

Danny browsed through the clothes, no need to really examine anything since he already knew what he was wearing. Speaking of which, he wondered when Dash would give that to him. There was always a chance of it not fitting his body correctly, and that called for last minute tailoring that was sure to be pricey. 

“I guess I could buy new dress pants,” Danny muttered under his breath. Just then, a loud gasp could be heard, and then Tucker was calling out to them.

“Guys, look!” When Danny and Sam got to him, he was wearing an electric blue suit over his plain black t-shirt. “I’m getting it.”

“What are you going to wear under that?” Sam asked.

“I have this navy blue button up that has a pattern. It’s hardly noticeable, it’s like, subtle but fashionable.”

“Blue on blue?” Danny asked.

“It’ll work, trust me,” Tucker replied. “It’s a dark navy, almost black, so it’ll work. What about you, Sam?” 

Sam had a couple of dresses slung over her arm, which she began to display for them.

“Well, I kind of like this one,” Sam began. She held up a purple dress made of wispy material that turned lighter as it went down. “But then  _ this _ one…” She held up another purple dress, though this one was darker.

“It’s long sleeved, which is hard to pull off but, trust me, I’ll pull it off.” She gave a small smirk and flipped the dress over. “And then it’s open on the back, so it’s kind of like, damn, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tucker nodded. “I like the material on the other one, but that one would look really good on you,” he said, pointing at the long sleeved dress.

“Plus, I feel like you could accessories more with the second one,” Danny added.

“I’ll try it on,” Sam decided, leading the boys to the dressing rooms.

“Hey, Sam,” Tucker called out to her from outside her changing room. “Are you ever going to date anyone?”

Danny laughed.

“Wow, Tucker,” Sam grumbled.

“What?”

“The way you said it,” Danny laughed again. “No chill at all.”

“Sorry! I was just wondering! You hardly talk about anyone in that way, you know?”

“Uhh, I don’t know. I’m not really interested in anyone in our shitty school. Maybe in college I’ll find a hot Arts major to read me poetry under the starry night sky.”

Danny and Tucker made exaggerated gagging noises. The door of the dressing room flung open, and there stood Sam, wearing the long-sleeved purple dress that hugged her sides nicely but loosened around her legs. 

“Sam,” Tucker began. “You look hot.”

She definitely did. It was no secret that Sam was extremely attractive, though she liked to hide it underneath baggy t-shirts and high-waisted pants. She chose comfort over style, but even then, she looked great. Her make-up was always well done, and her hair went through different changes, though always good. Right now, she kept it longer and layered, but planned on chopping it all for graduation. 

Sam sighed. “I know. Being so damn good looking is hard for me, but I live with it.”

“Are you gonna go with that one?” Danny asked. Sam nodded her response, turning around.

“My back doesn’t look weird though, right?”

“Nah,” Danny said. “You look really good, Sam.” 

“Thanks. With some heels, this’ll look great. Alright! I’m buying it.”

She locked herself back into the changing room to change back into her t-shirt and jeans. 

“By the way,” she called out. “What are you wearing, Danny?”

“Yeah, Danny. Are you and Dash matching?” Tucker asked. The tone in his voice got him a glare from Danny, and possibly cost him even a chance at the front seat.

“We coordinated, yes,” Danny said. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and went through his texts with Dash. Tucker peered over his shoulder, practically breathing down Danny’s neck.

“Have you two been  _ texting _ ?”

“Oooh,” Sam cooed from inside the changing room.

“Yeah, so?” Danny grumbled, irritated. “We just talk about regular stuff. Classes and shit. We started planning the senior prank, actually.”

“What?!” Tucker shouted. “That’s  _ our _ thing!”

“Aw, is Tucker jealous Danny has a new boyfriend?” Sam said as she exited the changing room, her dress tossed over her shoulder. 

“Not my boyfriend,” Danny muttered under his breath. He found the image he was searching for a clicked it open. He displayed his phone to his two friends, who immediately began fawning over it.

“Dude, Danny, that is gonna look so good on you!”  Tucker exclaimed.

“Yeah, Danny. You’ll look great,” Sam added.

“Thanks,” he smiled, swiping left to show them Dash’s shirt.

“Wow,” Tucker mused.

“I didn’t know Dash was a floral kind of guy.”

“Me neither,” Danny agreed. “It’ll look good on him, though.”

Sam and Tucker sent each other knowing grins. Danny frowned angrily.

“Shut up,” he said. His phone vibrated in his hand. Speak of the devil. Dash had texted him.

Dash: hey, my parents aren’t home if u wanna stop by and try on your shirt (:

“Is it Dash?” Sam asked.

“Yeah,” Danny responded. He talked while he texted Dash back. “He wants me to stop by for the shirt. I guess I’ll drop you guys off and then head to his house.”

Sam and Tucker opened their mouths, ready to give Danny a harder time than he needed.

“Or, you guys can walk home.”

They clamped their mouths shut.

 

Danny parked in front of a nice looking two story house. He leaned back against his seat and exhaled slowly. This was it, Danny. Don’t do anything stupid.

He exited his car and made his way to the front door, almost tripping over himself on the way up the small set of stairs. His palms were sweating, his stomach felt tight, and he might puke on Dash the second he opened the door. This warranted for another series of deep breaths before Danny could finally ring the doorbell with a shaking finger.

Dash opened the door all too soon. But Danny felt all his nerves melt away when Dash gave him a grin, that reassuring grin he’d been giving him all week.

“Hey,” he said coolly, stepping aside. “Come in.”

Danny muttered a thanks as he stepped inside. The living room was nice and clean; it appeared Dash had been watching tv, as the flat screen was displaying a paused movie screen. 

“Your shirt’s upstairs,” Dash announced, walking up the stairs. Danny followed him upstairs and into his room, which was cleaner than Danny expected. It was more of an organized mess; there were plenty of things tossed on the ground here and there, but they were all in their designated corners. It wasn’t the pigsty Danny had imagined, that’s for sure. He had to learn not to doubt Dash so much. 

There were also plenty of football trophies, plaques and medals hung on the wall. There was a smaller trophy displayed on Dash’s desk, and Danny strained to read the engraving.  _ Most Valuable Player, Amity Park Local Youth Team _ . Next to the plaque was a picture of teeny tiny Dash, dirt smeared on his cheeks as he gave a wide-toothed grin, his top tooth missing. He was clinging onto a football, arms barely reaching around the ball. Seems like Dash had a love for football since he was a kid. It was kind of endearing, and managed to warm Danny’s heart.

“Here you go,” Dash said. Danny had been so focused examining Dash’s room that he hadn’t even noticed Dash reaching into his closet and pulling out his shirt. It was much nicer than it was in the picture. Danny actually felt himself getting excited thinking about getting all dolled up and wearing his pretty dress shirt. 

“You should try it on, just in case it doesn’t fit or something.”

“Right,” Danny said, taking the dress shirt from Dash. He pulled off the plastic protecting it. “Did you get it dry cleaned?”

“Yeah,” Dash laughed. “I don’t know if this is just me, but I don’t like wearing things when they’re brand new unless I wash them first.”

“Makes sense,” Danny said. He was trying hard to keep his feet planted on the ground, keep the conversation steady and his awkwardness buried behind a straight face. He gently set his shirt down and tugged the back of the neck of his t-shirt to get it off. His undershirt almost came off with it, but stuck around his ribs instead. He pulled his shirt down without thinking much of it and reached for his button up.

He looked down at himself and even without a full body mirror he could tell he looked great. The dress shirt fit him well, and once he got into his black pants and dress shoes, he’d be handsome as shit.

“How do I look?” he asked Dash, a wide grin on his face. And then Danny noticed the slight blush on Dash’s face, the way he was pressing his lips together, and Danny was suddenly just as nervous as he was before.

“Yeah it, uh, looks great on you, Danny,” Dash said, giving an awkward smile. “I already tried my shirt on and it fits fine, so…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say next. 

“What, uh, movie were you watching,” Danny asked. He casually began to unbutton his shirt. Dash swallowed.

“World War Z.” 

“Aw that movie sucked.”

“It did  _ not _ ,” Dash said. He sounded  _ extremely _ offended; it made Danny laugh.

“It was alright,” Danny decided. “I just didn’t like the ending. It was like more was supposed to happen, but then it didn’t?”

“Whatever, it’s a good movie, you have trash taste,” Dash said. Danny scoffed as he pulled his shirt over his head.

After a long pause, Dash asked, “Do you want to watch it with me?”

Danny shrugged. “Sure.” He didn’t really have much else to do. 

 

Danny woke up much later to a different movie on the screen and fingers combing through his hair. 

He stared at the screen blankly for several seconds. The movie that was playing was Fight Club. Did Dash have a thing for Brad Pitt?

Slowly, memory began to flood his groggy brain. He’d shown up to Dash’s house to pick up his shirt. He’d tried it on, flashed Dash a bit of his abdomen, and then agreed to watch the rest of World War Z with him. Sometime halfway through the movie, he’d fallen asleep, and his head was now currently rested on Dash’s lap, and Dash was playing with his hair.

Danny quickly sat up straight, possibly scaring the shit out of Dash.

“Geez, Fenton, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry,” Danny apologized. A low yawn escaped him, tears forming at his eyes. “I didn’t even know I fell asleep.”

“It’s fine,” Dash responded. He was smiling warmly at him. “You’re cuter when you’re asleep. Less of a pain in the ass.”

Danny opened his mouth to argue, but then clamped his lips shut. He realized that Dash had called him cute. He didn’t really mind it.

He couldn’t think of anything to say. His hands were fidgeting with each other, and he suddenly felt very sweaty, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he was imagining this moment. This moment where he’d fallen asleep on Dash’s lap, and Dash had given him a compliment, and Dash was leaning in towards him.

There was no way he was imagining it. No, because the kiss Dash gave him was very real.

Danny’s eyes were wide while Dash’s were rested shut. This was possibly the worst kiss ever, Danny was sure. He was just sitting there, all stiff and rigid, and Dash was  _ kissing _ him and he couldn’t find it in himself to kiss back.

Maybe Dash could sense his awkwardness. He pulled away, looking down at him with concerned eyes. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah,” Danny responded, swallowing hard. “I-I’m fine.”

“You don’t look okay,” Dash said. “If you’re uncomfortable, we can stop.”

Danny swallowed again, nodding. “I think, uh, I was better off like this.” In a moment of bravery, he settled his head back down on Dash’s lap. He heard Dash chuckle and his fingers were back to working through Danny’s hair, massaging his scalp.

Danny’s heart was pounding against his chest. His face felt extremely flushed, and, god, he might puke. 

In truth, what made Danny uncomfortable was how nice of a kisser Dash was. And how much he wanted to kiss back, but he  _ couldn’t _ . He felt cowardly, but he’d probably have another chance to kiss Dash sometime soon. An odd sense of relief washed over him. 

Shit, Danny  _ wanted _ to kiss Dash. ‘Oh my god, fuck,’ Danny thought to himself, over and over and over. He shoved every single thought aside. ‘This is a problem for future me.’ 

Danny kept his eyes on the television screen, ignoring the butterflies in his stomach and the flushed feeling of his skin. As Dash’s fingers ran through his hair, he found that his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier still.

“What time is it?” Danny asked.

“It’s like 11:45.”

“ELEVEN FORTY FIVE,” Danny exclaimed, sitting upright and practically falling off the couch. “Shit, I’m sorry, I gotta go!” Danny scrambled around in search for his shoes, the ones he hadn’t even realized he’d taken off somehow. Dash found them under the couch and handed them to him.

“Thanks,” Danny said as he pulled the shoes on. He grabbed his nicely folded shirt, still in the plastic packaging, and let Dash open the door for him. Danny was about to race down the stairs and to his car, but he stopped and turned around.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Danny said, managing a smile.

Dash looked stunned. He smiled back at him. “Drive safe, Fenton.” 

“Thanks.” With that, Danny raced down to his car, tossing his shirt on the passenger side and speeding off. From his rearview mirror he could see Dash leaning against his door, watching him go. Once he’d turned the corner and was sure Dash could no longer see him, Danny ignored the sleepiness under his skin and focused all his energy on making the car invisible and intangible, a trick he’d picked up from Johnny 13. This allowed him to go as fast as he wanted to without worry of being stopped by a cop or causing an accident. 

He got home in record time and abused his ghost power to fly up into his room and snuggle into bed undetected. He checked his phone for any missed calls, but all he had were a series of texts.

Sam and Tucker had been trying to reach him, but it wasn’t anything important. They were just sending a mass flurry of stupid memes to try and get him to join the conversation, but he’d been asleep at the time. His mother had sent him a text asking when he was going to get home because she wanted to see his outfit for prom (whoops). And then, finally, he came across Dash’s messages.

Dash: sorry if i freaked you out

Dash: youre just really cute and i wanted to kiss you so i did but i probably shouldve asked first. my bad.

Dash: hope youre not too mad at me

Danny quickly typed a response.

Danny: noo im not mad! 

Danny: sorry, this is kind of new to me.

Danny: haven’t really gotten this close to anyone in a while, you know?

This was partially the truth, partially an excuse. He was saying this to avoid telling Dash the truth, that he was uncomfortable with Dash kissing him because he though he didn't feel that way about him at all. But at the same time, it was true; he  _hadn't_ been that close with anyone in a very long while. 

Dash: You haven’t dated anyone since Valerie?

Danny: not really

Dash: omg that was like freshman year dude

Danny: um shut up???

Dash: sorry wow i guess i just never really paid attention to your love life before recently

Dash: i totally thought youd end up dating sam tho

Danny: why does everyone think im gonna date sam, tucker, or both wtf

Dash: you guys are p tight

Danny: you dont see me accusing you of dating kwan

Dash: gross thats my bro

Dash: anyways i’m going to go to bed, but im glad i didnt scare you off or anything

Danny: you didnt (:

And oddly enough, Danny found himself being entirely truthful to Dash. He said his goodnights to Dash and, after several minutes of tossing and turning, Danny typed out a phrase he’d been holding back on saying.

Danny: it was nice

Because it really was nice, and he found himself wishing he’d had the gall to take it further and test the waters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello!!! sorry this is three days late; finals week, man. things are hectic as hell, but i'm free now mostly, and back to writing!!! granted, I have not written chapter four in its entirety. I've written one 4 page scene, but this next chapter is going to be much longer. In fact, I may split it into two chapters, depending on how it goes and what works better.   
> Again, thank you for your kind comments! I love reading them, and I love responding to every single one of them!   
> i hope you guys liked this! i loved writing sam and tucker's interactions with danny, and their little prom outfit shenanigans. i love writing sam and tucker in general actually, aaaa  
> alright, prom day is the next chapter, guys! excitement


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for mentions of relationship abuse and rape

Danny Fenton detested his awful sleeping habits. However, he was extremely thankful that his friends shared those same awful sleeping habits.

Danny: are you guys awake?

Tucker: if ur up

Tucker: smash dat MOFCKN LIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sam: im awake

Tucker: THEN WHY ARENT U! SMASHIN! THAT MUFCKN LIKE!!!!!

Sam: will you shut up people are trying to sleep

Tucker: sam im not shutting up until you smash that motherfucking like what aren’t you getting

Danny: dash kissed me

If he, Sam and Tucker were all in the same room, and this current conversation were playing out, he could certainly imagine it. He could imagine Sam and Tucker bickering, Danny making his small announcement, and the entire room going silent. He could see Sam and Tucker turning to him, eyes wide.

And then, the yelling would ensue.

Sam: OMG WHAT

Tucker: NO WAY

Sam: O M G

Tucker: HOLY SHIT

Sam: I CANT CONTAIN MYSELF IM CALLING YOU GUYS

Sam: SAM MANSON BRINGING BACK THE THREEWAY PHONECALLS

Danny didn’t even have time to text back and tell Sam that she could absolutely  _ not _ call him at 2 am. His phone was buzzing in his hand before he could even type the first letter to his response.

“Hold on,” Danny hissed into the phone. Though the phone wasn’t pressed to his ear, he could still hear Sam and Tucker’s scrambled voices asking him a flurry of questions. Danny rolled his eyes as he slid out of bed. He turned himself intangible and flew up through his ceiling and all the way to the roof of his house. There was a chill to the night air, and he was thankful he’d thought to bring a blanket. He wrapped it around his shoulders and sat on the edge of his roof, feet dangling below him. Finally, he pressed his ear to the phone.

“Hello.”

He immediately pulled the phone away as Sam and Tucker practically screamed into the phone. 

“Guys! Will you calm the fuck down? It’s 2 am, oh my god.”

“Ok fine, we’re sorry,” Tucker responded.

“But you have to tell us what happened!” Sam exclaimed. Danny sighed into the phone.

He retold them the events of the night, starting with the undershirt-almost-coming-off-of-him thing, and then Dash’s strange admiration of Brad Pitt, and waking up with fingers in his hair, and, finally, the kiss.

“And then I came home at like 12 am and I’ve been awake since then,” Danny finished. Sam and Tucker were oddly silent.

And then they burst out laughing.

“Danny,” Tucker said between laughs. “You do realize you basically, like, had a little date with Dash there.”

“What? How was it a date? It wasn’t even planned. There was no food!”

“You stayed in Dash’s house to watch a movie with him. You fell asleep on his lap. Sounds like a date to me, albeit a very informal one,” Sam said.

“It is the most informal of dates. The ‘Netflix and Chill,’ if you will.” 

“Tucker,” Danny hissed. “Shut. Up. I will literally fly my ass over there and strangle you.”

“ _ Anyways _ ,” Sam interjected. “The kiss. The kissing. Dash kissing you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny muttered. He stared off at the buildings below him, at the night sky encompassing it all. “It was nice.”

The line went silent. No more laughing and joking. “Yeah?” Tucker asked.

“Yeah,” Danny said softly. His voice was suddenly small, tiny, unsure of itself. His friends could hear the insecurity in his tone and grew worried.

“Danny,” Sam said. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, guys,” Danny muttered. He looked at his dangling legs. “Why am I doing this to him? To me?”

“I know it’s complicated,” Sam began.

“Yeah, it’s complicated,” Danny said. He didn’t give her a chance to finish her statement. “It’s complicated, and every day that I let it keep going, it gets worse. He kissed me today, and now I want to kiss him back! What the fuck does that mean?” 

“Hey, Danny, calm down,” Tucker said.

“I  _ can’t _ ,” Danny exhaled. “I can’t, I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know my reasoning anymore, I don’t… I don’t know if I even actually like him. I was so sure just a week ago that I didn’t like him, and today, I don’t even know for sure!”

“Where are you right now?” Sam asked. 

“On my roof.”

“Why?”

“It’s nice up here. I didn’t want to wake my parents. I don’t know.”

“Danny,” Tucker said. “You’re fine, okay? Do you hear me? You’re fine.”

“I’m not,” Danny countered. He hadn’t even realized he was crying. But now that the realization had hit him, there was no controlling it. Tears were rolling down his face, his teeth were chattering, and when he spoke, his voice shook so much he worried his friends were already on their way to him.  “I’m not fine, no. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

“You don’t have to go to prom, Danny,” Sam said.

“Yes I do! I can’t do that to him, Sam. I can’t just ditch on the last second, no fucking way. I have to go through with this, and I can, I’m just… scared.”

“What are you scared of?” Sam asked softly.

Danny wiped at his face, rubbing his tears away. “I’m scared that we’ll kiss again. And I’ll realize I like him. And we end up dating, and then our entire relationship is based on a lie.”

His friends were both silent. He took the silence as an opportunity to speak of everything on his mind. 

“I was so sure of myself last week, you know? I was just fine and dandy with lying, I was sure it’d be simple. Just tearing off a bandaid, you know? Go to prom, avoid dancing because I’m really bad at it, tell Dash I don’t feel the way he does, get on with my life. No guilt, nothing. But now I feel it, guys. I feel so guilty for leading him on like this. Even if I figure out that I  _ do _ like him, the lying is still there. Why would he ever even want to date someone who only dated him out of pity to begin with?”

“Danny,” Tucker said.

“I’m sorry.”

“Danny, hey, listen.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Listen, listen to me, alright?” Danny nodded, as if Tucker could see him. “You’re going to be  _ fine _ . You’re going to figure this one out, alright? You always do.”

“Yeah, Danny,” Sam agreed. “I know you’ll get out of this one. Maybe if you tell him the truth, you guys could work it out, alright? This doesn’t have to end badly.” Danny nodded again. “I’m really sorry, this is kind of my fault.”

“No,” Danny said. “I could’ve told him the truth from the start. I let it get this far.”

“But you’ll figure it out,” Sam repeated. “You’re fine, right?”

“I guess,” Danny reluctantly agreed. 

“It’ll be fun!” Tucker said, trying to keep the mood light. “We’ll steal you from Dash every once in awhile and the three of us will have fun, yeah?”

“Okay,” Danny agreed. He was calmer than before. His head was no longer racing a million miles per second, and his eyes were no longer blurred with tears. He just needed to get his emotions out, it seemed. 

“...Do you want to come over?” Tucker offered. “So you don’t have to be by yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” Danny responded. “Thanks, guys. I think I’m gonna go back to bed now.”

“Okay,” both Tucker and Sam responded. They sounded unsure, still worried about their friend. Danny smiled.

“I’ll be fine,” Danny repeated. “Night.”

“Night.”

Danny clicked his phone off and let his hands drop to his lap. He sighed, staring at the night sky. 

Everything he’d said before still worried him. The more time he spent with Dash, the more he wanted to give them a shot. But he didn’t think his conscious would allow him to date someone he’d so cruelly lied to. And he wasn’t sure how he’d tell Dash the truth of the situation. He was afraid to bring it up before prom, because it could ruin the atmosphere of the entire date. It seemed he’d just have to wait and see.

With that, Danny let himself fall backwards. Instead of his back hitting the cement of the building’s roof, he phased through it and floated downwards until he eventually landed onto his bed. His emotional episode had depleted his leftover energy, and he was able to, finally, fall asleep.

 

Dash: Is it dumb if Im like really excited for tonight?

This was the text Danny woke up to. Dash had sent it a couple minutes before he’d woken up. Danny smiled at the screen before texting back.

Danny: yeah thats pretty dumb dash

Dash: stfu fenton, ur excited too

He was both excited and terrified. 

Danny: i GUESS im looking forward to it

Dash: dork

Dash: hey did your parents want prom pictures of us?

Danny stared at the screen with wide eyes. He definitely didn’t want his parents to know his date to prom was a guy, but he wasn’t sure if Dash would be upset. 

Danny: my parents don’t know

Dash: lmao mine neither

Danny let out a small, nervous laugh. He wasn’t even sure if he should feel relieved. Dash’s parents not knowing was kind of heartbreaking.

Dash: anyways I was just asking because the football team wants to take prom pictures and so I was gonna ask if you could pick me up a little later than one normally would

Danny: omg

Danny: the football team is taking prom pictures together

Dash: I know I told them it was gay as hell, not that I mind. Its nice to see the guys be bros

Danny: its actually kind of cute, albeit gross. i’ll need a polaroid for my scrapbook

Dash: Im way ahead of you

Dash: I’m kind of dying waiting for tonight, do you want to go grab breakfast? Kill some time

He shouldn’t. He would only be digging himself deeper into the lie, deeper so that he wouldn’t be able to properly explain himself if he wanted to. Danny knew he shouldn’t take things further than they have to go. He knew this, but ignored it.

Danny: sure! but im paying

Dash: fine, but Im driving

Danny: deal. I need to shower and shit, i’ll be done in like thirty minutes?

Dash: just text me when you’re done

Danny: cool

Danny held his phone in his hands and stared at the screen. An unfortunate pool of nerves stored themselves in his stomach. He immediately texted his support team.

Danny: guys i think dash and i are going on a date

Sam: !?!?!??!

Danny: he asked if i wanted to go eat breakfast with him and i said yes

Sam: lmao

Sam: breakfast

Sam: its 10:50

Tucker: wtf sam any time is breakfast time

Tucker: can i get a hell yeah

Danny: heavens yes

Danny: anyways i kind of am nervous because like… why did i agree to this? I shouldn’t have agreed at all

Sam: i think its good you agreed

Tucker: yeah itll help you figure things out

Danny: i hope so

Sam: just forget about the circumstances, alright? act as if this is a first date, no uncomfortable situation surrounding it. Just a regular ol date

Danny: ok. ok ok. im gonna go shower.

Tucker: bring me some bacon!

 

Danny waited at the bottom of the front steps of his house, fidgeting with his hands. When he saw Dash’s shiny, practically new red Charger, Danny got to his feet and quickly walked over to the car. 

Should he really be the one driving them to prom later that night? Would his old, beat up convertible suffice? He’d at least gotten it a nice paint job, but geez, Dash’s car made his car look like something found in a dump.

Danny got into the passenger's side and immediately felt the cool air against his still damp hair. He said hello to Dash as he put his seatbelt on.

“Does Silvia’s sound good?” Dash asked, already driving. 

“Oh my god, you’ve been to Sylvia’s?” Danny asked. He, Tucker, and Sam had all been there on multiple occasions, especially at 2 am. Sylvia’s was a tiny, hidden diner hardly anyone went to, for favor of nearby fast food restaurants and the neighbouring Denny’s. It had a home-like feel to it, a comforting atmosphere to walk into at 2 in the morning. The crew loved it. 

“Dude, yeah, Sylvia’s is the best. Me and the team go after practice sometimes and when we eat there, the lady there treats us so nice, y’know? As if we were all her grandsons. We love knowing our money is going to a sweet old lady like her.” 

“I love her. Is her name Sylvia?”

“No, it’s Patty.”

“Oh. That’s misleading.”

Dash laughed, and his laugh sent a strange feeling down Danny’s back. It made him flush, and also somehow made him happy. He wanted Dash to laugh again, wanted to know that Dash was enjoying himself with him.

They arrived at the small diner, their car joining the other two in the small parking lot. They walked into the diner and were instantly greeted with smiles, even from the customers. Danny gave a warm smile back, following Dash to an empty booth in the farthest corner of the diner. He sat across from him and accepted the menu the waitress offered him. 

“Can I get you boys started with any drinks?” 

“I’ll have a strawberry milkshake,” Dash said.

“And a chocolate milkshake for me,” Danny added. The waitress nodded and gave them a small smile before walking off. 

“I’m glad you’re the kind of guy to sit across from their date.”

Danny tried not to freak out at hearing the word ‘date’. He looked up from his menu with a frown. “Ew, who does that? Who would sit right next to someone?”

“Beats me,” Dash said. “I’m probably getting pancakes.”

“Me too. I’m not sure why I bothered even looking at the menu.”

Dash laughed again, and Danny caught himself smiling. The waitress soon returned with their drinks, wrote down their orders, and was gone once more. Danny took a long sip from his milkshake.

“So,” Dash began, staring out the window next to them. He looked back at Danny. “Your parents don’t know?”

There it was. The instance in which Danny had to thread his lie further. He took another sip from his milkshake and swallowed hard, tried to sound normal. “No, I, uh, told them I was going as a group with Sam and Tucker.” This wasn’t  _ entirely  _ false, Danny thought to himself.

“Are they not okay with it? You being gay. Or bi, or pan, sorry.”

“Bi,” Danny confirmed. When he said it, he didn’t feel like he was lying too much. It felt less of a lie than saying he was gay, anyways. “And, no, I think they’d be fine with it, actually. My sister’s pansexual, and she basically came out to them through a slide show presentation.”

Dash laughed. “That sounds like Jazz.”

“Yeah,” Danny said, smiling. “Uh… what about you? Do your parents think you’re going with Paulina still?”

“Oh no,” Dash said. “I had to put an end to that shit immediately, dude. They wanted me to marry her.” 

Danny recoiled, a disgusted look in his face.

“Yeah,” Dash said. “Exactly. They’re actually kind of pissed that I’m not going with Paulina. Can’t imagine what they’d do if I told them I was going with a guy, and Jack Fenton’s kid, no less.”

“Hey, my dad isn’t that bad.”

“I don’t think he’s bad, my parents do. Sorry, they’re judgemental asswads, I can barely deal with it sometimes.” 

Danny nodded in sympathy, sipping from his milkshake. “So, Paulina was awful?”

“She was  _ terrible _ . Sorry to break it to you, Fenton. I know you had a huge thing for her.”

“Ew, no, it’s fine. That’s way in the past.” He had stopped liking her an entire week ago. Things had changed. 

“Good, because she was a huge  _ bitch _ , man. Excuse my language. She was just… really manipulative, y'know?”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Dash said, leaning back against his seat and crossing his arms. “She needed everything to be absolutely perfect. And, in her mind, I was somehow her perfect boyfriend, which was flattering at first, but then it was just a pain in the ass. All the school events, the dates. School and football were already stressful enough, but then that relationship felt like another responsibility, jesus christ.”

Danny examined Dash, the way his eyebrows were furrowed, the way his jaw was clenched. 

“Dash-”

“Can I tell you something?” Dash asked, suddenly leaning forward. Danny blinked, surprised.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Okay, uh.” He paused to swallow, then nervously pushed his hair back. “I never liked Paulina, obviously. I was just doing these things at first because jocks like me are supposed to be with the hot girls, right? And then I was doing it because I was afraid of what Paulina might do. Paulina was obsessive over getting things perfect, making sure things were right. And then, one night, I was dropping her off and she looks at me, dead serious, and asks me if I want to have sex.”

Danny stared at him. His mouth was dry. He didn’t really know what to say. All he could do was wonder how the secluded corner of a diner managed to invite a confession told in secret by Dash Baxter.

Dash continued talking while he played with the straw of his milkshake. “At first, I kind of laughed, because it was kind of ridiculous, the look she gave me and the question she asked. And then I realized that she wasn’t really asking. She never asks for things, ever. She just demands them, takes them. And so I’m like, get out of my car. But she doesn’t. And she’s telling me, Dash, we’re having sex, I’ve been on the pill for two months now, we’re having sex, we have to. And I didn’t have a condom, but she didn’t care because I could just pull out or whatever, and-”

Dash fell silent, staring down at his hands. Danny reached forward and grabbed on of them, rubbing his thumb comfortingly against the top of his hand. Anything to break the stare Dash was trapped in.

Dash looked up at him, eyes serious. When he spoke, his voice was soft, silent, but unwavering. Solid, serious, as if to detach itself from any emotion. Dash was trying not to sound upset, but the crease on his forehead and the biting of his lip gave it away. “I couldn’t say no to her. She wasn’t going to listen, anyways. So, we did it. And it became like this stress reliever for her, but it was nothing but stress for me. It was awful, Danny.”

Danny finally found his voice. “Dash, she- why didn’t you tell anyone?” 

“Who would believe me, Danny?” Dash spoke softly. “We were the school couple. We were homecoming king and queen. We were perfect. No one would believe anything less.” 

Dash pulled his hands away when he noticed the waitress approaching them with their food. Unfortunately, much of Danny’s appetite had left him. He was far more concerned with making Dash feel better in the empty of that diner. He watched as Dash picked at his food, looking at his plate but not at Danny.  

“Hey, I can’t wait to see you in that shirt later,” Danny said bravely. Dash looked up at him. Danny caught the half-second of surprise in Dash’s eyes before he covered it with a smirk.

“Yeah? I look hot as hell, be warned.”

“I bet,” Danny responded, feeling his face flush. And Dash’s face was flushed, too. 

“Can I, uh, kiss you?”

Danny darted his eyes around the room. It seemed like they were alone in the diner, only 80’s hits and framed pictures of city landmarks surrounding them. Danny looked back at Dash.

“I mean, I guess.”

Dash snorted as he leaned across the table. “Fenton, you’re such a dork,” he whispered before giving Danny a quick peck on the lips. “A cute dork, but definitely a dork.” 

“Whatever,” Danny muttered, shoving a forkful of pancakes in his mouth. Dash was still smiling widely at him. “Eat your food.” 

“Thanks for going to prom with me,” Dash said suddenly. Danny felt as if he’d reached forward and gave his heart a forceful squeeze. That was guilt, wasn’t it?

“No problem,” Danny mumbled, focusing on the soggy pancakes before him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello again!  
> i predict there are 2-3 chapters left of this thing. wow!  
> thank you all for your amazing comments and kudos. i would not be writing this as excitedly if i didn't have such wonderful support.  
> the next chapter will be about prom, for sure. itll be quite a bit of material so, again, might split it into two. we will see!  
> 


	5. Chapter 5

“I’ll see you later tonight, Fenton.”

“Yeah, see you.”

Danny exited Dash’s car, giving Dash one last wave before walking up the steps of his house. He turned and watched Dash drive away. Once Dash’s car disappeared around the corner of the street, Danny turned and walked into his house.

Unfortunately, curious parents were waiting on the other side of the door, faces almost touching his. Danny yelped and stumbled back, his back hitting the door.

“So,” his father began, leaning back with crossed arms, “you’re friends with Baxter’s kid now?”

“Uhh… yes?”

“Well I think this is just fantastic!” his mother squealed. “I’m _so_ glad you two are finally getting along!”

“Yeah, uh, right,” Danny mumbled. He edged towards the glistening staircase, which lead up to the protective sanctuary that was his room.

“Are you going to prom with him?”

Danny almost tripped on his own feet. “Wh-what?!” Had his mother heard his conversation with Jazz? Maybe she heard his late night skype calls with Sam and Tucker? Shit, he knew he should’ve been more careful.

His mother broke his train of worrying. “You’re going with Sam and Tucker as a group, right? I was just wondering if Dash was a part of that group.”

Danny sighed in relief. “Yeah, yeah, he’ll be, uh, part of the group. Can I go now?”

His father huffed before walking away. “Always in a hurry, that Daniel.”

His mother gave him an encouraging grin. “Tonight will be great,” she said. “I know it.”

Danny couldn’t help but smile sheepishly at his mother’s words. “Thanks, mom.”

 

Once Danny finally retreated to his room, he collapsed onto the bed with exhaustion pumping through his veins. It was only 1:00, but he was already tired as hell. He’d made arrangements with Sam and Tucker to meet up and prepare for prom together, so he had little moments to himself before he had to get back on his feet to go pick them up.

Prom was nearing quicker and quicker. In hours, he would be picking up Dash and spending the entire night with him. He wondered how long this night would be. Would their night end as soon as they got tired of the prom atmosphere? Or would they do something after?

Things with Dash were only getting more and more overwhelming. Today, Dash had trusted him with something that, it seemed, he hadn’t ever told anyone. How could Dash trust him that easily? A huge pang of guilt hit him, leaving his stomach hollow. Of course, Dash didn’t know Danny had basically been lying to him since last week. But if he did know, he’d definitely rethink their entire relationship.

Did they even have an established relationship? They’d just gone on a date, apparently. Not that Danny minded.

And that was the thing. Danny _didn’t_ mind. Danny was _enjoying_ himself with Dash. They’d known each other since middle school, but they’d drifted apart and minded their own business in the recent years. They’d only hung out a couple of times as of late, but their recent interactions had left Danny feeling light. Dash was being so _nice_ ; an image of Dash’s smile flashed through Danny’s head. He was so understanding, and every time they texted or hung out, Danny found himself drowning in a desire to take things further.

But as things went further, the weight of his decision pulled him down. Why hadn’t he just told Dash the truth in the first place? That he really _had_ meant to send that text to someone else?

He had to stop worrying. He only had so much time to himself today, and he couldn’t spend it worrying about-

“Heyyyy!”

Just then, Tucker slammed the door open, arms outstretched in his grand entrance. Tucker walked forward and slammed onto Danny’s bed and on top of Danny. Danny let out a groan as his friend body slammed him.

“What… are you doing here?” Danny croaked out. Tucker’s elbow was digging into his ribs! Tucker was a pretty skinny guy, but that didn't mean he wasn't heavy as shit right now.

“My dad gave me my car back! So I drove here. Oh, I brought Sam here, too.”

“Yeah, thanks Tucker.” The two boys poked their heads up to look at Sam. She stood at the doorway holding duffel bags filled with tools for preparing for the night.

Tucker stood from the bed, releasing Danny from his dog-pile prison. “I wouldn’t have been much help anyways.”

“Whatever,” Sam grumbled. She walked forward carefully and set the bags down on Danny’s bed. She slapped her hands together and faced her friends. “Ready?”

“Not that much,” Danny admitted. Sam sighed.

“Listen, you guys don’t have much to worry about. I’ve got hair and makeup to worry about.”

“Don’t worry,” Tucker said. “I’ll help you with your hair. That’s why we’re here together. To help each other!”

“Right,” Sam said. “But first,” she paused to rummage through a bag, digging in search of something. Once she found it, she held up a box as if it were buried treasure. “Face masks!”

Once Sam prepared it, the three smeared on the mint green mask on their faces. While the mask worked its magic, Sam sat at a chair in front of Danny’s full-body mirror and let Tucker do her hair. Danny sat and watched from his bed.

“I love facemasks,” Sam said, smiling into the mirror. “Even if it makes me look like an avocado monster.”

“Does this have avocado in it?” Tucker asked.

“I think so. And honey.”

“After we’re done, I’m scraping this off with a chip.”

“Danny, ew, don’t.”

“What? I didn’t say I was going to eat it. But that was definitely where my mind was going.” Sam gave him a disgusted look from the mirror, causing Danny to laugh.

“Hey, Danny, are we going to dinner after this?” Tucker asked him.

“Yeah.”

“You sure?”

“Uh, yeah, why?”

“I’m just asking, y’know, just in case you already have plans with Dash.” Tucker turned and wiggled his eyebrows at Danny. He scowled back in response.

“Hey!” Sam snapped her fingers. “Focus less on teasing Danny, more on my hair.”

“Dash is taking prom pictures with the football team, so yeah, I’m fine.”

“The football team is taking pictures together?” Tucker asked. “That’s… oddly cute.”

“I’ll need evidence,” Sam said.

“I’ll be sure to ask Dash for said evidence.”

“So,” Tucker said, “when are you picking up Dash?”

“I guess after dinner. Won’t be till later.”

“You excited?” Sam asked. Danny scrunched his nose.

“Oddly, yes? I guess I’m mostly nervous,” he admitted.

“Hey, you’ll be fine!” Tucker reassured him. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and get what every guy wants on prom.”

“What’s that?” Danny asked. Sam was looking at him through the mirror like he should know, but he really wasn’t sure what Tucker was getting at.

“Dude, prom sex, duh.”

Danny’s eyes widened. Tucker was snorting at his own joke and at Danny's reaction, but Sam elbowed him hard on the stomach to get him to stop. He yelped in complaint, but when he saw her icy stare, he grumbled an apology and kept working on Sam’s hair.

Truth was, Danny had been thinking about… _that_. About how far things would go tonight. He didn’t think things would go farther than kissing, and even that was something he could barely handle. If things went further than that, he wouldn’t know what to do.

Sam and Tucker noticed how silent Danny had gone. “Uh, Danny, you okay?” Sam asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Hey man, I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I was just kidding,” Tucker said. Danny shook his head.

“It’s fine, really. I’m just being stupid. Worrying about nothing.”

“What is ‘nothing’ exactly?” Sam asked. “Having sex with Dash?”

“No!” Danny exclaimed, holding up his hands. “Well, sort of, not really, I mean- I’m not thinking about having sex with him. I don’t want things to get that far. I was just thinking… what if they _do_ get that far and I have to stop it. I don’t know, I’m nervous about hurting his feelings, I guess.” More than he already would, anyways, once he told him about... everything.

“Don’t worry about his feelings,” Sam said sternly. “Worry about yourself, Danny. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it, don’t even let him talk you into it, alright?”

“I know, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t worry about hurting his feelings for saying no, but I do.”

“Understandable,” Tucker said, nodding. “But Sam’s right. Don’t let things go somewhere you don’t want them to go. I mean, that’s how you got yourself in this mess in the first place, right?”

“Gee, thanks,” Danny muttered. Even though he was entirely correct.

“If he does anything bad, well, at least you’ll know he hasn’t changed at all,” Sam said.

Danny stayed quiet, then spoke up, “I really do think he’s changed, though.”

Sam smiled at him, face still perfect despite the green gunk on her face. “I think so, too.”

 

Once they were all done getting ready, they headed downstairs and were bombarded by parents. Not just Danny’s parents, but Sam and Tucker’s parents as well. They all fussed over their kids, eyes swelling up with tears at the sight of them all dolled up. Once the parents realized they wouldn’t see their kids dressed up like this until graduation, the waterworks were unstoppable.

“When did you buy this?” Danny’s mother asked, pinching the sleeve of his shirt. “You look so handsome!”

“I know, right?” Danny beamed. He felt like a million bucks in his floral dress shirt. He was also wearing a black tie to complete his look, and he couldn’t wait for Dash to see him. His hair was freshly cut, thanks to Sam, and his face felt super fresh from the face mask. The three of them wore gigantic smiles on their faces, causing their cheeks to burn. They were glad to get such positive attention from all of their parents.

They lined up to take pictures. Some were proper pictures, which their parents appreciated. But then, of course, they had to take ridiculously idiotic pictures. In one, Sam stood in between them, with Tucker and Danny at either side of her, gesturing wildly at her. The picture managed to capture her in mid-laugh, which she pretended to be embarrassed about. Another picture had Sam frowning while Danny and Tucker held each other romantically. One final picture was taken with Sam and Tucker holding Danny up, and a picture was taken immediately after, where Danny had fallen backwards and Sam and Tucker were crashing down with him. They all agreed to make that last one their profile picture on multiple social media accounts.

Once their families finally agreed to let them leave, the three drove to Sylvia’s for dinner. Danny drove with Sam as the passenger, and Tucker drove alone in his car. They met up and walked into the diner together, receiving many compliments from the staff there that left their cheeks flushed and pained from all the smiling. They enjoyed a nice dinner, and once they were beginning to thread just past the line of ‘fashionably late,’ they went their separate ways, Sam and Tucker heading to the school, and Danny heading towards an address he assumed might be Kwan’s house.

Danny: I’m outside (^:

Dash: Alright! gimme a sec

Danny: sending: 1 (one) sec

Just as he’d sent the text, he looked out his car’s window to see the door open and Dash exit the house. Kwan’s parent’s stood at the doorway, Kwan stuck in between them. Dash exchanged goodbyes with the gushing parents until they finally retreated into their house, probably to gush over Kwan some more before he had to leave, too.

Dash began to walk towards Danny’s car, his walk causing Danny’s stomach to twist and turn. He was wearing his shirt, the red floral shirt, and it looked _great_ on him. Of course, he had chosen the shirt, and it only made sense that the attire would fit Dash so well, despite the fact that Danny had never seen Dash wear anything floral before tonight. He also wore a black tie with his shirt, causing Danny to feel sudden relief over his own choice of tie. He wore nice fitting black dress pants, and, surprisingly, white shoes.

It was a very simple outfit, really. It was nothing compared to the elegance of Sam’s dress, the complexity of her curls and the flawless makeup carefully brushed on her face. But something about the night made Dash look just as elegant and beautiful. His hair was combed differently, pushed back instead of carelessly falling at his face. He was smiling, as always, but his smile was different. There was excitement for what the night held, even if it was just punch bowl with too much sugar. Maybe nights like prom night clouded Danny’s vision, made everything look both terrifying and exciting, but still, he couldn’t contain the embarrassed grin on his face when Dash stepped into his car.

“Sorry I’m late,” Dash said, closing the door softly behind him. He struggled to put on his seatbelt and continued to speak, “After the football team got done taking pictures, Kwan’s family made us a huge barbeque dinner, and then they kept me there as long as they could, they were practically crying, you should’ve seen-“

Dash had finally gotten his seatbelt on, and was able to turn to look at Danny. With one look at Danny, his voice trailed off and he fell silent. They locked eyes for a moment; Danny could feel his face getting warmer. He was sure the lighting in the car was terrible, and his face was most likely just barely illuminated by the weak glow of the street light he’d parked under, but despite this, despite all of this, Dash whispered, “You look great.”

Danny mustered up enough of his voice to whisper back, “You do too.”

Dash smiled smugly. “I know.”

With that phrase, his nerves washed away, pushed out by the sudden laughter that overcame him. His nervous demeanor caused him to laugh much harder than he should have, but that was fine, because Dash was laughing, too. Their laughter fell away and they were left with a comfortable silence once more.

“You okay?”

“O-oh,” Danny blinked, coming back to his senses. Maybe the comfortable silence had run a little too much. “Sorry, yeah, I’m fine. I don’t know, I guess I’m still thinking about how good you look.”

Dash chuckled, sending his gaze to the street before them. Then, his eyes fell back on Danny.

“You look good too.”

Dash’s voice sent a shiver down Danny’s spine. His voice was suddenly low, not like the previous words, which were accidently spoken in a whisper of awe. No, his voice was low for a purpose, to sound huskier, sexier.

Dash began to lean towards him, pulling his seatbelt away from his chest. Danny still felt as nervous as before, but he was no longer frozen in place. He moved forward as well, focusing on the lean of their bodies rather than the strain of his seatbelt.

Their kisses had gradually been getting better as Danny gained confidence. However, this was one was definitely the best so far, and left Danny feeling lightheaded. He actually kissed back this time and placed a hand against Dash’s muscular arm. Dash caught on to this confidence and further deepened the kiss, placing his own hand on Danny’s knee. Danny had an overwhelming urge to reach forward and mess with Dash’s hair, or maybe push away the hand on his knee, because if Dash kept softly pressing his fingers against the fabric of Danny’s pants, he might explode.

Just as Danny was contemplating explosion, Dash pulled away. He leaned back into his seat and coughed into his hand.

“Maybe we should actually get to prom first.”

Danny nodded. “Right,” he agreed. He still felt lightheaded.

When Danny made no move to drive, Dash asked, “Uh, Danny? Were you thinking about driving anytime soon?”

Danny tightened his grip around the steering wheel. “I don’t think I can.”

Dash snorted loudly and punched Danny’s arm, giggling like an idiot. Danny broke into laughter as well, and the two boys let go of their anxieties in form of stupid laughter until they were ready to head off.

 

From their spot in the parking lot, Danny could see different color lights spilling from the small windows of the gymnasium doors. That was all he could see, and so the anticipation building inside his stomach only grew further. He was finally there, car parked in the parking lot, only yards away from prom. His hands were still gripped on the steering wheel, palms sweating uncontrollably, and he didn’t think-

“I don’t think I can go in there.”

Danny turned to look at Dash. His eyes were staring at him, wide and blue, forehead glistening with sweat. He looked horrified, like he’d just seen a ghost.

_Shit._ He hadn’t even noticed. Up until then, Danny hadn’t noticed how eerily silent Dash had gone. He must’ve been worrying about prom just as much as Danny had been.

It was odd, seeing Dash that terrified. For the most part, Dash had always given off a cool aura, always flashing that grin of his. He was the poster child of the football team, a great athlete and an overall great guy. When he looked at him, Danny never thought about the possibility of Dash being upset. About Dash having troubles. He always caught him laughing, joking with his jock friends. Even with them talking now, he hadn’t put much thought to it.

But now Dash was sitting next to him in his car, hands shaking like crazy. He’d been so excited for prom, and now, he didn’t want to set foot in the gymnasium.

“I’m sorry, Danny. I… I wasted your time, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, Dash, no,” Danny said. He clicked his seatbelt off and turned his body to properly face Dash. “Don’t worry about me, alright? This night isn’t about me, it’s about you.”

Dash blinked. He pushed his hair back and spoke in a confused tone, “Me?”

“Yes, you,” Danny said, smiling warmly. “Look, we can go in when you’re ready, okay? But I really think you should go in there.”

“Danny,” Dash sighed. He fell back onto his seat and bunched up the fabric of his jeans in his fists. “Danny, I don’t… I don’t know how people are going to react when they see us together. Aren’t you scared?”

In truth, Danny had stopped worrying about what other people thought once he started worrying about the ass kicking he’d get when he told Dash about the truth behind tonight. Just one small thought had a lump forming in Danny’s throat, so he quickly pushed the thought aside and focused on the issue at hand.

Danny rubbed a hand up and down Dash’s arm, hopefully comforting him. Dash let out a shaky breath.

“Dash, people suck sometimes, you know? But seriously, who the hell could hate you?”

Despite himself, an embarrassed smile made its way across Dash’s face. “Shut up.”

Danny grinned as well. He didn’t expect his words to work, but Dash was smiling and he wasn’t as tense. “Seriously, Dash! You’re, like, the best football player. Teachers love you. You’re always smiling, and you have this quality to you that makes everyone happy.”

He wasn’t just saying this to cheer Dash up. These were all entirely true things, and they were making Dash smile, making his hands shake a little less and bringing color back to his face.

“I don’t know, Fenton-“

“How could anyone be terrible to you, Dash?” Dash set his lips thin and listened to Danny intently. “I swear, Dash, chances are, more people in there are gonna support you. And I guarantee you, you’re not going to be alone.” He was no longer shouting enthusiastically, but rather, his voice was low and sincere. “You’re going to have me, and you’re going to have Sam and Tucker, and you’re going to have Kwan, right?”

Dash nodded. “You’re right,” he sighed, staring at the gymnasium before them. “You’re right, you’re right,” he repeated. “I… I’m ready to go in now.”

Danny beamed at him. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Dash laughed. He leaned forward and gave Danny a soft, sincere kiss. “Thank you. Seriously, thank you.”

 

The gymnasium was packed with dancing bodies, students dressed elegantly. There were flowing dresses, tidy suits, high heels and dress shoes. The students danced to appropriate music playing at an appropriate level, and were dancing at an appropriate distance from each other, as they were being monitored by teachers such as Mr. Lancer.

The theme for the night was a red carpet theme, and thus when he opened the door, Danny immediately stepped onto a red carpet that rolled forward to a balloon arch of red, white, black and silver balloons. Behind this arch was a backdrop with the word ‘prom’ written in the font of the Hollywood sign letters. Students were eagerly lined up besides this arch and backdrop to take pictures for the magical night. Stars lined the walls of the gym and were hung from the ceiling, as well as silver and gold streamers.

Danny smiled. Everything looked wonderful, or at least as wonderful as a Casper High gymnasium could look. He looked over to Dash and was about to speak, but Dash looked frozen.

There were people looking at them, sure. But, then again, they looked amazing. They were probably admiring their unique choice of attire; no one else was wearing a floral dress shirt. Of course, Dash wasn’t thinking of this. Dash wasn’t thinking that, maybe, people were looking at them because that’s what people do when a new person walks into the room. Dash was thinking negatively, sinking into a thick ocean of dark thoughts that could only tear him down. Danny knew this ocean all too well, and he knew he had to pull him out quickly.

Danny grabbed Dash’s hand in his own. He snapped out of his frozen trance and darted his eyes at their hands, then looked at Danny with wide eyes. Danny gave him a reassuring smile, one that Dash was always able to give, one that Dash now needed.

“Look, Sam and Tucker are taking pictures. Let’s go say hi, yeah?”

Dash took a deep breath and exhaled, then nodded. Together, they walked over to the balloon arch with heads held high and hands clasped tight. Danny tried to ignore the pointing and the attention, but he was beginning to feel himself shrink. He couldn’t shrink, though. Because Dash was in danger of shrinking, as well, and he couldn’t let that happen.

Sam and Tucker were taking pictures in ridiculous poses, of course. They looked great, even with their faces scrunched up to look silly and stupid. The second they saw Danny and Dash, though, their faces became engulfed in excitement. They untangled themselves from each other and quickly made their way to the two boys. Sam managed to run much faster than Tucker despite the thin high heels she was wearing.

“Hey!” Tucker exclaimed. “You’re here!”

“Yeah,” Danny said, though his voice sounded shaky. Sam and Tucker were quick to pick up on this, and their eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“Are you guys alright?” Sam asked.

“We’re fine,” Dash finally spoke. He smiled to break through the anxious atmosphere. “Sam, you look nice.”

Sam gave a modest smile, waving her hand at him. “Oh, you.”

“No, seriously, you look stunning! Your makeup matches your dress so well, and your hair-“

“Ah, that is all thanks to _moi_ ,” Tucker bowed slightly. “And, yes, my suit _is_ spectacular, but it’s nothing compared to you guys.”

“Yeah, good choice, Dash,” Sam said. “You don’t know how hard it is to make Danny look attractive.”

“Hey!”

“Dash!”

The group turned to see Kwan making his way through the crowd of dancing students. He was dressed in a plain suit and chose to make his tie the flashy part of his outfit.

“Hey Kwan.” Dash stepped aside to give his friend room in the group of people. “How’s your date?”

Kwan snorted. “Right. Excellent, obviously.” He crossed his arms and leaned closer to Dash. “She, uh, left to the bathroom as soon as she saw you walk in.”

Dash’s face fell, and watching that made Danny’s inner composure break. As if Dash didn’t have enough to worry about, now he had to worry about dodging Paulina. Danny’s eyes darted around, from Dash’s frowning face, to Kwan, Tucker, and Sam’s worried faces, to a section in the corner of the gymnasium Danny hadn’t noticed before.

“Hey,” Danny said, fortunately grabbing everyone’s attention. “Is that like a walk of fame over there or something?”

A goofy grin overcame Kwan. “Hey, yeah! Dash, your name is in there!”

“What?” Dash’s eyebrows darted upward. “Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Let’s go check it out, yeah, Dash?” Danny grabbed Dash’s hand, and when he squeezed back, he lead him to Casper High’s very own walk of fame. If Danny could ignore some of the attention they were getting, that might have made the walk there a little less terrifying.

The sticker stars placed on the tiles of the gym floor were based on the graduating class’s superlatives, so Danny didn’t bother to look for his own name. But he did find Dash’s name there and immediately pointed it out.

“There you are! Casper High Football’s Most Valuable Player…,” he paused to look up at Dash, “Dash Baxter,” he finished warmly.

The amazing thing was that Dash looked genuinely happy. He looked _honored_ to see his name on the gym tile floor of the Casper High gymnasium. It was like no matter what kind of recognition he got for football, big or small, he appreciated it. Danny thought back to the trophies he’d seen in Dash’s room, to the picture of baby Dash smiling wide at the camera, hugging a football in his chubby arms. Dash was much different now, kneeling down in front of his walk of fame star. He was older, bigger, and no longer missing that front tooth. But baby Dash and prom night Dash shared a very important thing. They both were still smiling widely, and they were still genuinely proud of their accomplishments in football, no matter how big or small. Again, it warmed Danny’s heart to see Dash blushing over a golden, plastic star stuck to the gymnasium floor.

Dash looked up at him, still kneeling in front of his star. Having noticed Danny’s gaze on him, he suddenly looked embarrassed. “What are you looking at, Fenton?”

Danny laughed at Dash’s threatening tone. He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. “You just look so cute, Dash. Seriously.”

Dash reached forward and grabbed Danny’s hand, pulling him towards him. And when he realized what it was that Dash wanted, he leaned down to meet him halfway. Their lips met and, although the unfortunate pop music playing in the background did not match the mood at all, their kiss was lovely. Dash cupped Danny’s face, fingers soft against his skin and making him forget entirely where they currently were.

As if Dash suddenly remembered where they currently were, he quickly pulled away and looked around. He laughed embarrassedly and turned away, whispering, “Danny, people are smiling at us.”

Danny looked back at the crowd of dancing students and noticed the few who were smiling at them, and some were tugging at other’s suits and dresses to get their attention. Danny face went warm and he turned back to Dash. “That’s good, right?”

Dash chuckled nervously. “God, I hope so.”

“Alright, Casper High.” Mr. Lancer’s monotone voice came on over the speaker, drowning out the music and stopping the student’s dancing. “How’s everyone doing tonight? Yay, prom!”

Danny and Dash groaned as they got to their feet. Few students cheered to Mr. Lancer’s fake enthusiasm. Or maybe that was real enthusiasm. It was always hard to tell with Mr. Lancer.

“The party isn’t over yet, but it _is_ time to choose tonight’s prom king and queen!”

The crowd cheered again. Dash and Danny used this time to move to the back of the room and regroup with Sam, Tucker, and Kwan. They regrouped just as Mr. Lancer began to announce the nominees.

“Alright! The nominees for prom king tonight are… Dash, Tucker, and Kwan!”

“Tucker?!” Sam and Danny exclaimed at the same time. Danny grabbed Tucker by his shoulders and shook his ridiculous best friend, laughing incredulously.

“Tucker, how the fuck did you get nominated?!”

Tucker held a smug grin. Everyone knew who was to be crowned prom king tonight, but getting nominated was an accomplishment on its own, especially for a geek like Tucker.

“I got the entire computer club to nominate me, and they convinced a few people as well.”

“And our nominees for prom queen are… Paulina, Samantha, and Rachel!”

Sam’s eyes went wide and she almost spilled the soda she was drinking. She pulled the can away from her face and shouted, “Samantha who?!”

“Samantha _you_ ,” Mr. Lancer spoke into the mike and caused a few laughs to erupt from the crowd. The laughter continued as they watched Sam’s enraged reaction.

“Why the- _you!_ ” Sam hissed, pointing a manicured finger at Danny. Danny put his hands up in defense.

“I didn’t do anything!”

Sam’s angry gaze was no longer fixed on Danny, but instead on Tucker. Her eyes narrowed as she yelled, “ _You!_ ”

Despite the death glare, Tucker was laughing the entire time, hunched forward and arms wrapped around his stomach. When he straightened back up, he wiped away tears from his eyes. “I _also_ got the entire computer club to nominate drama queen Samantha Manson.”

“Drama queen?!” Sam shouted, incredulous. “Tucker Foley, I swear to god, I will-“

“It isn’t my fault you didn’t even bother to look at the nominee list, let alone _vote_ , you idio-“

“Alright!” Mr. Lancer shouted into mike. Even from his place on stage, he was separating the two kids, making sure they didn’t maul each other. Sam stepped away from Tucker. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips. She waved her hand at Mr. Lancer, allowing him to go on.

Mr. Lancer hummed into the mike before going on. “Aright. This year’s prom king is… Dash Baxter!”

Everyone already knew Dash was going to be tonight’s prom king, but they cheered anyways, and Dash looked honored anyways. He gave Kwan a light slap on the shoulder, gave Danny a reassuring smile, and made his way to the stage here he was to accept the fake, plastic crown.

Just as everyone knew Dash was to be prom king, everyone already knew who would be prom queen, too. This realization had hit Danny as soon as her name was announced over the speaker. She would be tonight’s prom queen, alongside Dash, and they’d have to dance. Surely, Dash knew this. But he was still up there on stage, smiling, looking calm, cool, and collected. He had to have been freaking out, though. Danny sure as hell was.

“Paulina Barrera!”

Paulina acted surprised and honored as she walked up on stage and accepted the tiara from Mr. Lancer. She took off the tiara she was already wearing with her glittery white dress and tossed it towards the crowd for one of her friends to catch. She smiled widely at the crowd, showing off pearly whites behind her pink lipstick smile. She clasped her hands together, giddy, and sent a smile over to Dash.

Danny clenched his fists. They were going to dance next. The two winners had to slow dance, which no one ever saw as a problem, because Dash and Paulina always came to these things together. But now they weren’t together, and they _shouldn’t_ be together. No, Danny didn’t want her anywhere near Dash. But they were going to dance together, and he wasn’t sure how to stop it.

But he had to. He had to, had to, had to. He had to stop them. This he knew in the pit of his stomach, even if he felt like throwing up, as he ran between the crowds of people and jumped up onto the stage.

Dash stared at him with wide eyes. Paulina glared at him with narrow eyes. And Mr. Lancer almost lunged him off the stage. The teacher politely stepped back, keeping the mike tightly in his hand.

“Mr. Lancer,” Danny spoke as calmly as he could, despite the fact that he was on stage and all eyes were on him. “I just… I think maybe the king and queen should dance with their dates, right?”

Mr. Lancer looked suspicious. But what Danny Fenton was asking of him wasn’t anything ridiculous or out of line. And he wasn’t _stupid_. He’d already noticed that Dash and Paulina weren’t together tonight, but Dash and Danny were. Maybe problems would arise if tonight’s prom king and queen danced together, and all Mr. Lancer wanted to do tonight was avoid any problems.

“Alright,” Mr. Lancer said, and then spoke into the mike, “Let’s start the music!”

A light slow song began to play, the one the school always played for every single prom king-and-queen dance. Danny had no time to thank Mr. Lancer; he could feel Paulina’s ice glare on him. He almost tripped as he turned and sped over to Dash, grabbing his hand and leading him down to the parting crowd. They stood in the middle, Paulina and Kwan a few feet away from them.

“Oh god,” Danny groaned, stepping closer to Dash. “This is so awkward.”

Dash laughed, wrapping his arms around Danny’s waist. “Shut up, it’s not awkward.” Danny groaned again, clasping his hands together behind Dash’s neck. Was he doing this right?

“Danny,” Dash said, snapping Danny out of his worried trance. He leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Thank you.”

“Oh,” Danny whispered. He was now incredibly aware of the weight of Dash’s hands around his waist, of how warm his breath was on his ear. “You’re… You’re welcome.”

Dash pulled away from him and smiled. Danny hadn’t even noticed that Dash was the one leading this dance.

“You know, I kind of want to kiss you, but that would probably freak out Mr. Lancer.”

“Arm’s length apart,” Lancer shouted into the mike, as if on cue. The two boys laughed together, pulling apart a bit. They didn't want Mr. Lancer to get another ulcer.

“Later,” Danny suggested. They still had an entire prom to get through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay. So sorry this took so long! Everything became super out of wack after finals season, because I went back home but I slept on the couch the majority of the time? And you don't know how hard it is to write somewhere where it's like, you don't even have a room to work in?  
> But now I'm back at my college and I'm rooming with some friends and I was able to pull this together the last couple of days!  
> Part of the reason why it took so long as well was because I wanted this chapter to be super good, and whenever I want shit to be perfect I tend to avoid it because I don't think I can make it perfect? Idk, it's like a very sophisticated form of procrastination.  
> Anyways, I hope you like it!!! Promise, next chapter will be better ^^;


	6. Chapter 6

“You guys look sooooo _cute_ together.”

Danny tensed. After their dance had ended, Dash and Danny had retreated to their spots with Sam and Tucker. Danny would need a couple of moments to calm his nerves; his palms were sweating like crazy, and he felt shaky as hell! He never thought doing something as simple as slow dancing would have that effect on him, but when you put him inches away from Dash and surround him with the entire school, well, he assumed the situation was sure to make anyone feel like puking.

Sam and Tucker immediately teased the lovely couple. This teasing was their form of supporting encouragement, so Danny took no offense to it and was hardly bothered. When the duo suddenly fell silent, Danny opened his mouth to talk, ask what was wrong, but a voice dipped in mock excitement cut him off.

Danny turned to look at Paulina. She stood before them with a smug smile, arms crossed before her chest. Kwan stood beside her, looking stricken and unsure of what to do. He exchanged an apologetic look with Dash.

“Thanks,” Danny responded curtly. He knew Paulina would be pissed, but he didn’t think she would bother to approach them.

“I’m being honest!” Paulina exclaimed. She sounded offended; why wouldn’t they accept her fake sincerity? Her attention turned to Dash. She fluttered fake lashes at him, looking him up and down. Her gaze stopped at the crown on his head. “Dash. Gorgeous as always. That shirt, though. Surprised to see you wearing something like that.”

‘Maybe that’s because you always decided what he wore,’ Danny thought bitterly.

“Paulina,” Sam stepped into the conversation. “Don’t you have somewhere to be? Like, not here, maybe?”

“What? I just wanted to see my replacement,” Paulina responded innocently. Her attention was back on Danny.

He didn’t want to stiffen under her gaze, but he did. The glitter trailing the sides of her eyes made them seem sharper, more threatening.

“Can’t believe _you’re_ my replacement, though. Danny Fenton. Haven’t you been begging to go out with me for the last three years?”

“Paulina.”

Danny wanted to say something, but he wasn’t sure what, so he was glad when Dash decided to speak up instead. He looked up at Dash. His jaw was set thin and his gaze was serious. If Danny was on the receiving end of that glare, he’d run, but Paulina just seemed happy to have Dash’s attention.

“I think you should go.”

A light pop song was playing in the background, which Tucker was tapping his fingers along to. A blue hue enveloped the room, and then a purple hue. People were still dancing steadily to the music pumping through the speakers. Paulina gave the group a pink plastic smile.

“That’s right! I have better things to do.” She turned around to leave, waving a hand at Kwan. “You don’t have to follow me around anymore. I’m done with you.”

With that, she disappeared into the crowd of dancing bodies, hopefully leaving them alone for the rest of the night. Kwan looked at the group. The sweat on his forehead was now very noticeable.

After a long beat of silence, Kwain said, “Well, at least I’m off the hook.”

“Yeah, man, I’m kind of jealous!” Dash joked. “Paulina never let me off that easy.”

Kwan and Dash laughed over the exchange, but Danny grew upset. He knew the significance behind Dash’s absentminded joke. And the fact that Paulina had confronted them just then; she wasn’t done pestering Dash.

He looked over at Dash. He had an arm wrapped around his friend’s shoulder, and the two were staring at the crowd of dancers, sharing a conversation Danny couldn’t quite catch. Dash was stronger now, though. Danny could see this. Now that Dash had gotten the opportunity to leave, break the cycle Paulina had trapped him in, he did. He left, and he didn’t seem to show any signs of vulnerability, of going back. Danny was worried, sure. But not too worried.

“Hey, Danny,” Sam said, elbowing the boy on the side. Danny yelped and wrapped his arms around his stomach, stepping away from Sam with a sheepish smile. “Wanna dance?”

“God, no,” Danny admitted.

Sam grabbed his wrist. “Well, you’re gonna.”

Danny groaned and searched for Tucker for back-up. However, his friend was at the other side of him, reaching for his other wrist.

“Let’s go!” Tucker shouted, and he and Sam pulled Danny into the middle of the crowd. Danny shouted at them to stop, to let him go, but no, his friends were relentless. Tonight, all three of them were to dance like idiots, and there was no way out of it.

 

People were just beginning to leave when Dash called for him. Danny broke away from Tucker and Sam and headed back towards the snack area, where Dash and Kwan were hanging out.

“What’s up?” Danny asked them, though his question was mainly aimed at his date for the night. When he re-established in his head that, yes, Dash was his date to prom tonight, his chest fluttered a bit. Ridiculous.

“Kwan’s throwing an after party at his house. Wanna come?”

Dash looked at him with an almost puppy dog look. It wasn’t a full-on pout; Danny wouldn’t be able to handle that. But his eyes were definitely pleading, and Danny knew it was a bad idea to take things beyond the boundaries of this gymnasium, but…

“Sure, why not,” Danny said, giving a casual grin. Dash smiled triumphantly and bumped fists with his best friend. Danny rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his pockets. “When do you want to leave?”

“Ah, sometime after Kwan leaves,” Dash said, motioning to his friend. “Wouldn’t wanna show up too early, right?”

“Right,” Kwan agreed. “I’m actually gonna head out now. I was Paulina’s ride but, uh, she can go fuck herself, I guess.”

Danny gasped at the blatant remark by Kwan, and when Kwan shrugged, he and Dash burst into laughter.

“Alright, I’ll text you when there’s enough people at the house, yeah?”

“Okay,” Dash agreed, and Kwan gave his friend another quick fist-bump, slapped Danny on the shoulder, and he was off, exiting the gymnasium with hands tucked casually in his pockets.

Dash turned to Danny. “Hey, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”

“Pfft, Dash, I know you think I’m some kind of nerd, but I’ve _been_ to a party, alright?”

“The ones Tucker and Sam throw don’t count.”

Danny blinked, then held up his hands in defeat. “You got me there.”

Dash chuckled and slid his hand into Danny’s. The two leaned against the wall together, hands held loosely, comfortably. Danny scanned the room. The crowd was considerably smaller than before; maybe people had seen Kwan leave and immediately followed to the party. Whatever the case, the crowd was winding down, though the people still left were as lively as ever. Sam and Tucker were now joined by a few of Tucker’s computer club friends, and some classmate’s Sam actually tolerated. They were dancing carelessly, unafraid of looking stupid. In fact, silly dance moves were encouraged by whoops and cheers. Tucker made his way to the middle of their friend group and dropped down to perform the “robotic worm” on the dirty floor of the gymnasium. Danny winced as he watched it all, but the crowd was ecstatic, going from encouraging cheers to ridiculous laughter in no time.

Dash chuckled next to him. Danny looked over and took all of him in; his hair, somewhat disheveled, but still perfect. His shirt, the way it strained against the lean of his body. The warm smile he had, obviously enjoying the crowd, despite not being in it. Danny smiled, too, and went back to scanning the crowd.

When Danny noticed the photographer had left, he let out an, “Oh no!”

“What is it?” Dash asked.

“The photographer,” Danny said. His voice was disappointed, almost whining. “He left, and we never got to take any pictures.”

Dash’s worried look changed into a relieved one. “Oh, that,” he laughed. “Don’t worry, Fenton. They mail ‘em, right? I wouldn’t have been able to get them sent to my house, anyways.”

Danny’s heart just about broke. He was heavily reminded that there was still so much he didn’t know about Dash, about anything he dealt with daily. He fell silent, wondering how to make this up for him.

“We’ll just take selfies,” Danny said.

“What?”

“C’mon,” Danny said, straightening up and digging for his phone. “We can take selfies. They’re cheaper and just as good.”

Dash laughed, but went with Danny’s idea. He straightened his posture and waited for Danny to load up his camera on his phone. Once he did that, Danny held the phone in front of them. On the screen, only half of Dash’s face showed up.

“Hey, um, get closer.”

Dash rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Danny, tilting his head so that their heads were almost touching.

“Better?”

“Yeah,” Danny agreed, a goofy smile on his face and on his phone’s camera, as well. The duo smiled into the camera and Danny took several pictures; he was sure some would come out blurry, what with the shaking of his hands. Dash suddenly took the phone from his hands and held it out.

“Here, maybe I can get a better angle,” Dash said. The two smiled again as he took pictures, and then, out of nowhere, Dash turned and gave Danny a quick peck on the cheek, causing Danny’s face to twist into that of embarrassed confusion. Dash pulled away from him and laughed at his blushing face. He pulled the pictures up on the phone screen and, of course, he was able to capture Danny’s stupid facial expression.

“Send me those,” Dash said, handing Danny back his phone.

“God, no,” Danny grumbled as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. Just as he did so, Dash was reaching for his own phone. They had to do that entire thing again, the whole selfie extravaganza. They messed around with who wore the crown, then Dash decided to surprise him with another kiss, though Danny was better prepared for it. Unfortunately, their picture taking was interrupted by a text from Kwan.

“We can start heading over now,” Dash announced.

“Right. Let me just go tell Sam and Tucker that I’m leaving.”

He was able to find them with ease now that the crowd had died down. Sam and Tucker danced in place but held their attention with Danny.

“I’m going to Kwan’s house for a party,” Danny told them.

“Ooooh,” Sam teased. “Don’t drink too much, party boy.”

“Hey, if there’s jell-o shots, call me,” Tucker said.

“You guys can go if you want. I’ll text you the address right now, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Tucker agreed. “Not sure if I’m entirely down to crash a party, but maybe I’ll get there.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Bye guys, see you later.”

“Bye!”

“Danny,” Sam called out to him just as he was leaving. “Be careful, alright?”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Okay, mom!” Geez, it’s like she’d never seen him around alcohol or something. 

“Ready?” Danny asked. Dash pushed away from the wall he was leaning against and nodded.

“Ready,” Dash agreed. He fell into step next to Danny and intertwined their fingers together once more. They exited the gym that way, and walked all the way to Danny’s car, hands still held tightly together.

 

By the time Danny drove up to Kwan’s house, it seemed to be packed. Cars flooded his driveway, as well as the driveways of his neighbors, and his neighbor’s neighbors. He thought he’d have to turn onto the next street, but Dash stopped him.

“You really think I don’t get any parking privileges at my best friend’s party?”

Dash pointed towards a spot under the street light in front of Kwan’s house.

“But someone’s already parked there,” Danny said.

“Oh, not for long,” Dash muttered. His phone was out in seconds, and he’d sent a message to Kwan in even less time. Soon enough, the owner of the white sedan parked in Dash’s apparent parking spot was moving his car with a scowl on his face. Dash texted Kwan a quick ‘thank you’ as Danny parked his car in said spot.

“I can’t believe you made the guy move,” Danny mused as he turned off his car.

“Once, we had to tow a guy.”

Danny’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?!”

“Yeah! Kwan’s parties have rules. And one of them just so happens to be: don’t park in my designated parking spot!”

Danny snorted. “Right. And what other rules are there? I think I should know what I’m getting myself into.”

“Well, this party _is_ being held because Kwan’s parents allowed it. You know this, right?”

Danny recalled seeing Kwan’s parents earlier. It did occur to him that it’d be odd to throw a party with your parents still in the house. “Did they leave or something?”

“Yeah, they left for the night ‘cause they knew Kwan was probably going to throw a party. But, if shit goes wrong, no more parties, and that’d be a damn shame, because Kwan throws the best parties.”

Danny raised his eyebrows. “So I’ve heard.”

“So, if you puke, you clean it, or you’re banned. Break anything, banned. And if you’re too drunk to drive, you gotta stay and clean the next day, because there’s no way you’re driving home drunk.”

“Wow,” Danny mused. “Sounds oddly safe for a high school senior’s party.”

“Hey, we haven’t had any incidents of drunk driving, Kwan’s parents have never come home to a trashed house, and we’re very proud of that,” Dash said with a grin.

Danny grinned back and began to click off his seatbelt. Dash seemed to tense at the movement.

“Wait,” he said, sounding nervous. “I need to, uh, talk to you about something.”

Danny cautiously put his seatbelt back on. Dash rolled his eyes.

“What’s up?” Danny asked.

Dash suddenly went serious. His jaw was set, eyebrows furrowed slightly, and his tone of voice no longer held its usual laidback feeling. He leaned forward slightly, clasping his hands together, and then unclasping them to scratch the back of his head. His fingers bumped with the crown still on his head. He removed his crown and began to fidget with that, instead.

Finally, he said, “I wanted to thank you for what you did on stage tonight. With the, uh, dancing thing.”

“Oh,” Danny said, surprised. He didn’t expect a thank you for that, mostly because he did it spontaneously and never wanted Dash to thank him but, rather, he just didn't want Dash to worry. “No, of course, it’s no problem!”

“Seriously, Danny,” Dash cut him off before he could further ramble, “that was so nice of you. _You’re_ so nice, you know? Like, um, I just…” he trailed off, putting the crown back on his head, and then rubbed the back of his head, only this time in a more flustered manner. He stared off, frustrated, as if trying to find the right words. But when he did find these words, or the courage to say them, he turned to Danny and locked eyes with him, his gaze again more serious.

“Thank you for taking me serious,” he said, voice unwavering.

Danny’s chest hurt. He spoke softly, “Dash, of course I took you seriously.”

“I know, I know, but the thing is, I didn’t think anyone would,” Dash admitted. “That’s what I was so afraid of, all along, that no one would take me seriously. Truth is, I was scared as hell when Kwan told me he was going to be Paulina’s date, and I didn’t want him to be _me_ , but even then, I _still_ couldn’t tell him. I was still worried that he wasn’t going to take me seriously…” He paused, swallowing hard. Somewhere through his sentences, his voice had cracked, making Danny’s heart lurch. He looked so distraught, playing with the ends of his fingers, rubbing the callouses on them. Seeing him so upset hurt Danny, and he wanted to say something, anything to comfort him, but he still had more to say. Danny knew this, so he waited patiently, putting his entire focus on Dash Baxter.

Dash looked at him, eyes soft, vulnerable. “But _you_ took me seriously, Danny. And if I hold onto that, I can stop being so afraid of Paulina.” His face went from serious to sheepish. “Well, I mean, I can’t stop them from going to prom now, but… At least she only seems to want to mess with me and left Kwan off easy, so that’s fine.” Dash sighed, leaning back onto his seat.

Danny felt it an appropriate time to speak up and say those comforting words Dash needed. But after that thank-you, after that entire confession, and in complete disregard to the tension in the air, Danny found it appropriate to say, “Paulina sucks.”

He said it absentmindedly, and meant his words to be a bit more meaningful. But then Dash turned to him with a giant grin on his face. “Fenton, you’re so stupid sometimes.”

Danny felt his face heat up. “Whatever,” he muttered, though he did actually feel stupid.

“Anyways, thanks for making sure I didn’t have to dance with Paulina. That was very brave of you.”

“Hey,” Danny said, sitting upright, “you’re the brave one here.” And it was true. It was what he’d been thinking all night, since the second he walked into the gymnasium with Dash, clammy hands clasped together. He could only ever see Dash as brave when after watching him walk up on stage and accept his crown, and then as he asked Paulina to leave them alone. That was why Danny didn’t worry so much over Dash. Because Dash was strong, and immensely brave.

Danny realized he’d been staring at Dash the entire time, but when the realization hit him, he didn’t look away. His eyes traveled away from Dash’s face and fixed on his crown. Danny reached forward and swiped it off of his head. Dash seemed to only just now notice he’d been wearing it, as well.

“Sorry,” Danny apologized, fiddling with the crown in his hands. “I was getting jealous of your kingliness.”

Dash chuckled. He took the crown from Danny, but instead of placing it back on his head, he placed it on Danny’s instead. He tucked a fallen strand of hair behind Danny’s ear, which was probably red from how flustered he was feeling. Dash’s fingers stayed there, behind Danny’s ear, and he began to close the space between them, fingers moving to the back of his neck.

They kissed for what felt like the first time that night, though their night had been peppered with kisses all throughout. They always seemed capable of forgetting just where they were at the moment; Kwan’s party was long forgotten, as Dash seemed to be more occupied with the fingers playing with the back of Danny’s hair. Danny sighed pleasantly, a noise he hadn’t meant to make. He began to pull away in embarrassment, but Dash kissed him again, a hungrier kiss, the tiny noise Danny had made only encouraging him. Danny placed a hand on Dash’s chest and slowly ran it up, down, up, and then rested it on his shoulder. He played with the collar of Dash’s dress shirt and parted his lips when he felt Dash’s tongue briefly on his lower lip.

Just when Danny had found the courage to now run his tongue on Dash’s lower lip, a loud thud against his car’s passenger side window made them both jump up and smack their teeth together.

“Ow!” the two boys exclaimed as they reeled away from each other. They turned their heads to see Kwan’s evil, smiling face pressed against the passenger side window. Dash groaned and began to unbuckle his seatbelt. This was their cue to leave.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Kwan said as the two boys stepped out of Danny’s care. “You guys were taking too long, soooo-“

“Kwan, your death is scheduled for... tonight,” Dash casually said as he wrapped an arm around his best friend. Kwan smiled at him.

“Not if we’re playing beer pong, ‘cause I’ll pulverize ya, and _you’ll_ be dead tonight!”

“Right,” Dash snorted, shooting a look at Danny. It wasn’t hard to guess that Kwan was a few drinks in. “So, you up for a game of beer pong?”

“Ah, I don’t know, I really shouldn’t be drinking, ‘cause I’m the driver, so-“

“It’s fine!” Kwan insisted. “You can stay the night and be part of tomorrow’s clean-up committee. That’s what Dash is doing.”

“Hey,” Dash broke in. “Stop fucking making assumptions about me, dude."

“Oh, sorry.”

Dash grunted. “Anyways, yeah, that’s what I’m doing." Kwan began to whine about how _rude_ Dash had just been, but Dash continued to talk over him. "You should play, though,” Dash said. “If you want,” he added.

“We’ll see,” Danny decided. He’d never really been into beer pong, anyways.

 

Granted, maybe Danny never really liked beer pong because Tucker was a shitty player. Dash was an _excellent_ player, as was Kwan, and the game was much more exciting this way.

The table was set up with ease, and to spice things up a little more, Dash placed his crown in the middle of the table. The crowd formed around them hooted at this, as if the crown made things more interesting. The winner was to claim ownership of said crown.

Danny and Dash claimed ownership after the first round.

Kwan was to drink the remaining beer, and Dash and Danny were to drink shots to celebrate their victory. With people cheering them on, the two boys drank down their throat-burning drinks and were immediately bombarded by Kwan demanding a rematch.

Dash and Danny were spectacular together, and by the third round, the two were just fucking around. Dash carried Danny on his shoulders, Danny wearing the crown on his head. He tossed his beer pong ball at the pyramid of cups, not expecting the ball to land in any of the cups. But when it landed in a cup in the middle, Dash shot his arms up excitedly and cheered, sending Danny tumbling back onto the ground.

During one of Kwan’s turns, Danny placed his hands on the edge of the table and watched the ball with as much concentration as a half-drunk teenager could muster up. The ball shot forward and he immediately placed a thumb on the cup he thought it would land in. When the ball was close enough, Danny turned the cup intangible. When the ball landed in the cup, it instead bounced against the table and past Dash and Danny.

“What the fuck?!” Kwan shouted in absolute disbelief. “I fucking had that! I swear!”

Danny laughed to the point of snorting, and soon, Dash joined him. Because the two of them were goofing around so much, they lost that round, but two out of three wasn’t so bad. The real consequence of their loss didn’t set in until they were three cups into the beer they had to get rid of on account of their loss.

 

Danny Fenton was drunk as fuck. He hadn’t been drunk since the time he, Sam, and Tucker had decided to ironically drink red wine as they watched the Spongebob Squarepants movie in Sam’s home theater.

“Tucker!” Danny randomly announced. He found himself in Kwan’s kitchen, where a nice row of colorful jell-o shots were set out for him.

'Hey, Tucker had wanted jell-o shots!' He reached for his phone and opened the group chat.

Danny: come here

Sam: where

Danny: fcuk

Danny: idfkf

Danny: com2 ckwans hsoue

Tucker: lmao are you drunk dude

Danny: hell YEAH

Sam: oh boy

Danny: im tryn2 my bestes 2 type good!

Tucker: bestes

Sam: yeah like bestes before testes

Danny: h I hate yo

Tucker: danny go home

Tucker: actually don’t

Tucker: stay there

Danny: I am (:

Danny: im sleEPI?NG! OVER

Sam: okay danny have fun! be safe!

Danny shoved his phone in his pocket and looked around. Most of the party goers were cramped in the living room (maybe the kitchen was off-limits?). Some were in the basement, while most were out in the backyard. Music was playing, making the walls vibrate. This Danny found out as he leaned against the wall. His head was beginning to pound. He wasn’t sure what was louder, the music or the people cackling and screaming.

Dash poked his head into the kitchen. “There you are!” Dash said a little too excitedly. He grabbed Danny’s hand and gave him a kiss on the cheek, a kiss very close to his lips, but not quite there. “You okay?”

“Mhm,” Danny hummed. “Just kind of… not feeling the party vibe right now,” he admitted. He noticed how sloshy his words sounded. He decided to end the drinking for the night.

“I feel ya,” Dash agreed. His laidback demeanor immediately switched, and though his eyes were still lazily half-lidded, they held something a bit more private. Dash smirked and leaned into his ear.

“Wanna go somewhere else?”

The tone of his voice in combination with the feeling of his breathe on his neck had Danny’s knees suddenly weak. Danny reached for Dash’s hand and placed his other hand on Dash’s chest, pushing him back a bit.

“We should go somewhere else.”

Dash smiled at him before leading him away, parting the crowds of people to get to the stairs that no one else was allowed to go to. Dash lead him upstairs and to what Danny assumed was a guest room. Dash opened the door and let Danny walk in first.

The room was small, with only a queen sized bedroom and a few cabinets for clothes. There was a window with half-shut blinds which let in some light from outside, making it so that the room wasn’t entirely dark, but just well lit enough that Danny didn’t stumble over his own feet.

As Danny was examining the room, Dash came up behind him and placed a kiss on the back of his neck, snaking his arms around his waist. Danny inhaled sharply, feeling a shiver run down his spine, almost starting from the part of his neck where Dash was kissing him.

Danny turned to face Dash, and kissed him slowly. But a slow kiss turned into something quicker, more eager, as hands tugged at shirts and traveled up backs.

Danny hadn’t even noticed Dash was leading him towards the bed until he felt the back of his legs hit something. He stumbled back and landed on the bed sitting up. Surprised, he looked up at Dash, who was busy unbuttoning his shirt.

“What?” Dash asked. “I don’t want to get this all wrinkled.”

Danny laughed, because, for some reason, this was extremely funny to him. He tried to control his laughter; in truth, he, too, was concerned about wrinkles on his button-up. He unbuttoned his shirt and folded it up, placing it on the cabinet next to him. The two of them were down to their undershirts, which seemed to be the exact same white t-shirt. Danny was about to point this out, but was interrupted by Dash placing his knee on the bed.

“Now,” Dash began, leaning towards Danny. “Where were we?”

Danny wasn’t exactly sure, but maybe the answer to the question was somewhere in the kiss Dash gave him. Dash deepened the kiss and Danny leaned back until he was eventually lying down on the bed, Dash on top of him. Dash’s leg was between Danny’s, and when his knee moved up and began to grind against his crotch, Danny couldn’t help but moan softly against Dash’s lips.

Dash pulled away, eyes wild and lips parted. His hair was a mess, no longer perfectly combed as it had been at the beginning of the night, and his cheeks were red and flushed. He was breathing heavily, and, god, he looked so _hot_.

‘This isn’t going to last.’

Once the thought had entered his head, there was no way of stopping it. There was no way of stopping the snowball effect of conscious-gnawing thoughts that were about to intrude in Danny’s mind. There was no distracting it, either. Not even Dash’s lips on his neck could distract him.

‘He’s going to find out.’

Dash nibbled against his neck, and one of his hands touched the exposed skin where Danny’s undershirt rode up. Danny inhaled sharply as his calloused hands began to touch skin it hadn’t touched before.

‘If you don’t tell him, he’s going to find out, and it’s going to be bad.’

“D-Dash,” Danny spoke, his voice slightly urgent. Dash hummed against Danny’s neck, still placing kisses and small bites here and there.

This was supposed to feel good. Danny knew this. The kissing, the neck biting, the hand under his shirt, the knee between his legs- it was supposed to feel good. And it had felt good, before his conscious decided to ruin it. Now, his throat felt tight, his stomach felt hollow, and the drumming of his chest spoke threats of his heart popping out of his chest. He could feel the uneasiness in his clammy skin and in his hollow stomach; maybe he would throw up soon.

“Dash.”

His brain was fogging up. He was trying to form words and sentences he would say, but he couldn’t know for sure if they’d come out correctly, or if they’d come out all wrong and he’d ruin things. His heart was clamoring too much, and if he didn’t stop now, he wouldn’t be able to breathe.

He just needed to tell the truth. But what would happen from there was too uncertain.

“Dash!”

Dash was off of him in seconds. He immediately stopped kissing his neck and moved away from the bed, giving Danny as much space as he needed.

“I’m so sorry,” Dash apologized, eyes wide. Danny’s chest ached. Dash sounded so worried about him, it hurt. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry Danny, I didn’t know I was making you uncomfortable. Oh god, we can stop if you want, of course we can-“

“That’s not it.” Danny responded as calmly as he could, but his voice still sounded shaky. His palms were sweaty as hell, and he was beginning to feel some of the negative aspects of drinking too much shitty beer and cheap vodka.

Dash blinked at him. “Then what is it?”

Danny sighed, running a nervous hand through his hair. “Can you sit down?”

“Oh, sure.” Dash sat down next to him, facing him and showing Danny that all of his attention and concern was on him.

Danny took a deep breathe. With Dash so close to him, he wasn’t sure if he would be able to even get to the truth. He took another deep breath. Maybe he should start from the beginning.

“Last Friday, I asked Sam for someone’s number, so I could ask them to prom,” Danny explained. Dash was staring at him, not once breaking the gaze, but Danny couldn’t do the same. He looked away from Dash and kept talking. “The number that I asked for was Paulina’s number.”

He paused, expecting Dash to say more. Maybe he was too pissed to talk. Whatever the case, Danny kept talking.

“But, she gave me yours instead, so I accidentally asked you to prom instead. And you had said you were interested in me, and I felt too bad to say no after saying something like that to me, so I just… went with it.”

“So let me get this straight,” Dash said. He got to his feet, then began to pace. “You meant to ask out Paulina this entire time?”

“Well, but, after what you-“

“But you accidentally texted me, and you _felt bad_ , so you just _went with it_?”

“I know it sounds kind of-“

“So you’re only on this date because you fucking _pitied_ me?”

“No, Dash, I don’t think that at all, I-“

“Shut up,” Dash whispered. His voice was shaking, as was his body. He was trembling, and his breaths sounded shaky. Danny’s heart was still caught in his throat. He was watching something fall apart right in front of him, and he couldn’t believe how hard it was, watching it crumble with no idea how to fix it.

“I trusted you with all my stupid _baggage_ ,” Dash spoke. He’d been turned away from Danny for a while, but slowly, he turned around, glaring straight at Danny. When Danny noticed the tears in his eyes, he began to feel himself shrink. He would definitely have to puke soon.

“I-I’m sorry-“

“Don’t apologize!” Dash yelled, causing Danny to flinch. “How am I supposed to trust you, Danny? How do I know you don’t still like Paulina?!”

“I don’t, Dash, I promise!”

“What the fuck is a promise coming from you?”

Danny clamped his mouth shut. He didn’t know what to say. He felt trapped, sitting there with Dash crying before him. All he wanted to do was help him, but how could he do that when he himself was the problem?

Dash stayed quiet for a long time. He worked on calming down, on slowing his breathing. He wiped at his face and walked to the other side of the room, further away from Danny.

“Leave.”

Danny couldn’t move. He couldn’t move from that bed. His fingers were digging into the bed, hands gripping the sheets tightly. He couldn’t move.

“I said leave, Danny! Please-“ His voice cracked at the end, and he coughed to cover for it. Dash Baxter was crying, and it was because of him.

Danny wordlessly stood up. His world was spinning away from him; the ground under him no longer seemed concrete. He knew he had steps to walk down, and he wasn’t sure if he could make it through them. But he had to give Dash his privacy. Slowly, he walked towards the door. Just as his hand touched the doorknob, Dash spoke again.

“I honestly thought you actually liked me. I thought we were going to work.”

Danny wanted to correct him. Tell him he did like him, and he wanted them to work, too. But he kept his mouth shut instead. What was a promise coming from him?

He left the room without saying another word. Once he shut the door behind him, he leaned against it. He didn’t know what to make of the swirling of his stomach and the pounding of his head. There was still a severe pressure on his chest, and no amount of deep breathing exercises were helping it.

He had to go outside. Some fresh air would do him good.

He began to walk down the stairs as slowly and as carefully as he felt safe. At the very last step, he heard someone call his name.

“Danny!”

It was Kwan. Energetic, drunk, smiley Kwan. Danny stared at Kwan with huge, wide eyes. Kwan stared back at him, at first skeptically, maybe wondering what was wrong.

It took him no less than three seconds to take in Danny’s disheveled hair, red eyes, and shaking body.

Danny was about to get that ass beating.

He ran. Ran as fast as he could, pushing people aside and running as the world spun and tilted and lurched. He could hear Kwan yelling his name angrily, the tone of his voice making the contents of his stomach drop unpleasantly.

He stumbled outside, but he couldn’t stop there. Kwan was only seconds behind him. He ran right onto the street and kept running from there, stumbling and near-tripping after every five seconds. When he was sure he could no longer see or hear Kwan, he stumbled out of the streets and onto the sidewalk. His foot caught on the edge of the sidewalk and he tripped, landing on the soft grass of a stranger’s lawn.

Danny’s groaned and rolled onto his back, chest heaving up and down. He was coughing, hacking, almost dry-heaving. Not only were his hands shaking, but his entire body, even his tense shoulders were shivering. The stars above him were moving, but he wasn’t sure why. His head was pounding, he was thirsty, and above all, he was tired. He dug his fingers into the damp grass, scratching into the soil instead of his skin.

He wanted to sleep. He just wanted to sleep, to wake up and have things resolved. Dash wouldn’t be mad, and he’d realize that, sure, Danny made a dumb ass mistake, but he was willing to make up for it.

His eyes were drooping. Danny didn’t mind the idea of falling asleep right then and there, on the damp front lawn of a random stranger’s house. He closed his eyes shut and began to drift-

His eyes shot open. No. Falling asleep on a random stranger’s front lawn would not be good for him, or the people who lived there. He would just make more problems for himself. But he didn’t know how he was going to get home. Driving was out of the picture, and if he tried flying home, he’d probably hurt himself along the way.

Danny reached for his phone. He turned on the too-bright screen and immediately called Sam.

“Heyyyy, Danny.”

For some reason, hearing Sam’s chipper voice made his throat close up. His friends had been so supportive of him, only for him to fuck it up. God, he really wanted to be with them right now.

“Sam.” Danny said her name as best as he could, no slurring of his words or breaking of his voice. But still, Sam managed to catch something in his tone that immediately had her speaking calmly, up-beat attitude gone.

“Hey, Danny, what’s wrong?”

“Wait, what’s wrong with Danny,” he heard Tucker in the background.

Danny felt tears pricking at his eyes. As he spoke, he realized he was hyperventilating.

“Sam, fuck, I-I told Dash. I fucked up, I fucked up so bad-“

“Danny, Danny, calm down. Do me a favor and take a deep breath.”

Danny did as told, focusing the little energy he had on breathing in and out on Sam’s instruction. He was beginning to feel better, but his head still hurt, his stomach was still in knots, and he desperately needed a glass of water.

“Where are you? We’ll go get you.”

Danny looked around. Even though he’d memorized all of Amity Park through years of ghost fighting and driving, nothing looked familiar. The realization had him panicking again.

“I-I don’t know.”

“Hey, that’s fine, we’ll find you, okay? Don’t worry, you’re fine. Tuck, can you drive?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.”

“We’re going to go get you, okay, stay put.”

“Okay,” Danny said. He sat up, placing a hand on his sweaty forehead. “Oh god, I’m so sorry.”

“Danny, you’re okay.”

He wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for. For hurting Dash’s feelings. For hurting Kwan’s best friend. For not telling the truth in the first place. For always fucking things up, and bothering Sam and Tucker about it. Whatever the case was, he couldn’t stop the pounding of his head, he couldn’t stop crying, and he couldn’t stop apologizing.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Danny.”

And when he puked on the random stranger's front lawn, he couldn't stop apologizing for that, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this in one day, and edited it in another. Fuck writer's block.  
> We are very much nearing the end! I've outlined what's happening from this point of the story and onward, so all I have to do is write it out! Hopefully I can have that out to you next Monday (^:  
> Tell me what you think! And, as always, your comments are very appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

Sam: Danny

Danny: ???

Sam: are you sure you aren’t going to school today?

Danny: I really don’t feel up to it today

Tucker: we’ll be with you every second of the day

Sam: we’ll even go to the classes we don’t have together

Danny smiled at his phone screen. His friends were so _nice_ to him. Too nice. He didn’t deserve such kindness.

Danny: thanks guys, but im just gonna stay home

Tucker: can we hang out after school?

Danny: sure

Tucker: yaaay

Sam: rest up, ok kiddo?

Danny: okay mom

Sam and Tucker always knew how to take care of him. They were experts, at this point. Maybe last night was their true test.

By the time they’d reached him, Danny was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk, head in hands, eyes fixed on his shoes. It had apparently taken a while to snap him out of his numb, disoriented state. When they were finally able to get his attention, Danny started to freak out, shouting that he had to puke but he didn’t want to do it there, and what if someone shouted at them?

“Danny, you’re _already_ shouting!” Tucker had said. The memory of the irritation in his voice unsettled his stomach, leaving it as upset as it had been that night. Or close enough.

Sam stepped out of the car, armed with water bottles in each hand. She was the hydration angel, and Danny was sure to let her know this once he’d calmed down.

For some reason, the 10 mph car drive home was oddly soothing. The gentle breeze making its way through the unrolled windows of Tucker's car felt nice on his clammy skin.

They stayed over at Sam’s house, because her parents were gone and her living room was huge, optimal for sleep overs. Danny passed out as soon as he got to Sam’s house, and was the last to wake up, head pounding and a disgusting taste crawling up his throat. Sam and Tucker were able to break him out of his shell, never probing for questions on Saturday’s events. 

Danny did get to tell them, though, and it was a difficult for him to retell what happened at the party. Tucker tried asking him questions about the more light-hearted and fun aspects of the night, but the attempt did not cheer Danny up at all. He was stuck with images of Dash, stricken and crying, and of Kwan’s furious look.

They spent the entire day together, and although Danny was stuck in a tired fog the entire time, he appreciated his friends’ company. He knew that if he’d spent the night alone, he’d be in a much worse, a much thicker fog. His friends were as patient and comforting as one would want.

But not even all the comforting words in the world could get him to muster up the strength to go to school that Monday morning. He couldn’t face Dash; god, just thinking about seeing him in the hallway, in class, about seeing him _at all_ had his stomach in uncomfortable knots. Danny tossed and turned in his bed, curling further in his sheets to hide away from the sunlight seeping into his room.

And then there was Kwan. His threat was definitely still looming in Danny’s mind, despite the fact that Dash probably wouldn’t let things escalate that way. No, regardless, he wasn’t willing to risk it.

There were people upset with him. There were at least two, but there could be more, and he wasn’t sure what the hell he was up against today. The uncertainty of it all was unbearable; he’d rather just hide alone in his room.

He sat up in his bed.

‘Or,’ Danny thought to himself, ‘I could just go to school without anyone seeing me. Ghost powers, duh.’

Ghostly eavesdropping. Not exactly a new low, since he’d done it multiple times, but definitely another low to add to his guilt list.

He quickly got out of bed and got ready, despite the fact that no one would be able to see him. After he was done combing his hair, Danny turned invisible and intangible, flew right through his closed window, and flew as fast as he could to Amity High.

 

Just like last week, things were normal, as far as Danny was concerned. Classmates passed by, chattering away about prom this, prom that, but nothing negative about him or Dash. There was only curiosity, wondering if they were _actually_ together, or if they'd just gone to prom together for kicks. Whatever, none of this, none of them, mattered to Danny. He floated down the hallways, towards Dash’s locker.

Even before he rounded the corner, Danny could already hear the uproar of chatter from the football players. They were as rowdy as ever, especially with prom night as their topic. The team surrounded Dash and Kwan, Dash looking as nonchalant as ever. His hair was tidy, and his lips were half open in a smile, which then formed laughter that enveloped the entire team. Dash jokingly wiped his eye and looked away from the crowd, towards Danny.

Danny froze. His body went stiff and rigid under Dash’s gaze, his eyes sending shivers down his spine and making his chest constrict and squeeze. The reaction was ridiculous; there was no way Dash could see him. But it was a reaction nonetheless.

Danny floated cautiously towards the group. He hovered around them slowly, listening in to their conversation.

“I feel like I’m still hungover from prom.”

The entire group groaned at their teammate’s words, chiming in their agreement.

“Hey, Kwan, what’s the best way to cure a hangover?”

“I already told you!” Kwan said. “Abstinence.”

Again, the group groaned, pushing Kwan jokingly as the group eventually melted into laughter. They began to talk about the ways they cured their hangovers that past weekend, and the conversation eventually led to the cause of the hangovers: Kwan's party.

“Kwan, your party was _dope_ , dude.”

“Yeah, man. And no one puked on your carpet this time!”

“Of course not,” Kwan snapped. “My house is for parties. It’s not a zoo.”

“Hey, man, I saw you chasing Fenton. What was that about?”

Danny tensed, eyes immediately darting to Dash. Dash looked as nonchalant as ever, staring at Kwan and waiting for a response. Kwan, on the other hand, looked a bit frazzled.

“Oh, he, uh, he… broke a vase.”

“Oooooh,” the entire group awed jokingly, and Kwan was to receive another round of pushing and shoving.

“What?!” Kwan whined, laughing nervously. “It was an expensive vase!”

“So, is he not allowed in your house anymore?”

“Fuck no,” Kwan responded. Danny shivered at the aggression behind Kwan’s voice. Though the vase thing was entirely a lie, there was definitely some truth behind his anger.

“Wow, sucks for you, huh Dash?”

Danny and Kwan both tensed again, both of their eyes going to Dash. Dash shrugged against the locker, pushing himself up from leaning against it.

“I guess. It’s not a big deal.”

“It was kind of weird seeing Fenton there,” one of the players mused. “He’s not that bad, though.”

“He’s a killer beer pong player.”

The group then rambled on to talk about the multiple games Kwan, Dash, and Danny played. With all the compliments being thrown in, Danny wanted to feel flattered, but his mind was too frazzled, attention entirely on both Dash and Kwan. Even though he was invisible, he was definitely cautious of Kwan. He felt that if he hovered too close, Kwan would lunge at him and strangle him to death. Or, maybe just to the rest of death to actually kill him? Whatever. He was getting distracted.

The warning bell for class rang, and the group noisily dispersed and headed for class. Dash and Kwan walked off together, heading towards their class with Danny floating closely behind.

“Sorry about that,” Kwan said.

Dash gave Kwan a confused looked. “About what?”

“About the whole… Danny thing.”

Danny frowned, biting at his lip. It was weird, hearing people talk about him, hearing his name said from people unaware that he was right there with them.

“Ah,” Dash mused. “That’s nothing on you, dude. How were you supposed to know the conversation would lead up to that?”

“I don’t know, whatever.” Kwan paused and searched around the now emptying hallways. “I don’t think he bothered to show up today.”

Dash kept walking and stayed silent. Danny stared at him, his stomach uneasy, wanting Dash to say something, _anything_ to hint at how he was doing. Anything to hint at how he felt about him.

“Smart move, huh? He already knows that the second I see him, I’m kicking his ass.”

“Don’t do that,” Dash sighed, shaking his head.

“Well, what am I supposed to do, Dash? Just let him fuck with you like that?”

“How about,” Dash began, sounding stern, “you let me deal with this how I want to deal with it, yeah?”

The two boys stared at each other. Dash’s stare was stern, almost authoritative, and Kwan’s stare was angry, that of a reprimanded child. They held eye-contact for what felt like hours, air thickening with tension. Danny wanted to get in between them and push them apart, cause any distraction to get them to look away from each other.

Finally, Kwan looked away and huffed.

“Whatever,” he grumbled. “I still wanna kick his ass.”

Dash laughed, wrapping an arm around his friend. “I appreciate the sentiment,” he said, and the two walked into their first period class room together.

Danny hovered behind them, watching the door shut behind them. Dash’s words were ringing in his ears. ‘I appreciate the sentiment.’

“I appreciate the sentiment?!” Danny whispered to himself. He crossed his arms and chewed at his lip, floating backwards with his eyes glued at the door until his back hit the cold metal of the lockers.

Dash seemed… fine. Dash seemed perfectly fine! He was laughing with his friends, and he didn’t even flinch when Danny’s name came up. He was acting so casually and…

Danny found himself feeling… disappointed? He had expected to see Dash sad, angry, _something_ other than perfectly _fine_. It felt odd to feel upset over this; he should be glad that Dash was okay.

He didn’t know what to make of this, of any of it. He floated into the classroom and hovered at the sidelines, his eyes drifting towards Dash much too often.

 

The rest of the day was unpleasantly uneventful. Dash did well in his classes, and he was as lively as ever during lunch. He shrugged off questions about Danny, and then people caught on that it was none of their business and eventually stopped asking. Dash went smoothly about his day, and not once did Danny catch him looking sad or out of character.

Throughout the day, Danny grew more and more upset. He couldn’t shake the feeling off, he couldn’t help it. Danny was torn up about their fight to the point of not coming to school (at least, not physically). But then there was Dash, attending all of his classes, and now currently heading towards the boys’ locker room, not a damn care in his world.

Why did he get to be okay, but Danny couldn’t? Why did Danny lose sleep over him, but Dash seemed to be perfectly well rested?

Danny was about ready to leave. He was about to turn around and fly home, and just forget the entire thing-

“Hey!”

Danny tensed, heart almost jumping up through his throat from the sound of Dash’s booming voice ricocheting off the walls of the hallway. His voice was dripping with enough anger to cause Danny to jump up and almost crack his skull on the ceiling above him. Danny looked at Dash, at his tensed shoulders, and followed Dash’s gaze towards the end of the hall, his gaze towards Paulina.

Danny almost phased back. He almost lost control of his self, of his ghost form. He tried to focus entirely on maintaining composure and on keeping his breath steady.

Paulina stared at Dash with wide eyes as she slowly backed away from Danny’s locker. She held a tube of lipstick in her hand, bright red, dull on the end. On Danny’s locker was the word “faggot” written in curly, red letter. She hadn’t gotten to finish her work, though. She’d been halfway through the second g when Dash stopped her.

After getting over her initial shock, Paulina smiled thinly at him and capped her lipstick.

“Hi Dash. How are you?”

“What are you doing?” Dash asked, voice wavering with anger, trying hard to keep his voice calm.

“Hmmm?” she hummed innocently. Dash’s shoulders tensed, his hands curling into fists at her innocence.

“Paulina, cut the shit already,” Dash snapped. Danny’s eyes widened. He’d never seen Dash this angry before, nor had he ever heard how terrifying his voice sounded when he was mad. Paulina seemed immune to this, though.

“What the fuck are you doing to Danny’s locker?”

Danny covered his mouth with his hands. He breathed in through his nose, held it, exhaled through his lips. Staying invisible, staying afloat, staying _ghost_ was getting increasingly difficult. He could feel the ongoing war between his nerves and his ghost form, his beating heart and his invisibility. If he could just keep it together…

“What? Aren’t you _mad_ at him?” Dash didn’t say anything. Maybe he didn’t know what to say. “He _lied_ to you, right? He wanted to date me instead of you.”

How did she know any of this? Danny could feel his heart pounding madly against his ribs. What was Paulina’s problem?

“This is none of your business,” Dash said calmly, sternly.

Paulina glared at him, an offended look staining her face. “What do you mean this is none of my business? You chose _him_ over _me_!” she shrieked, incredulous. “Why would you choose anyone over me, especially him? Danny Fenton?! He’s a nerd, a geek, a _guy_! Why him and not me?”

“Paulina,” Dash began. “Just leave.”

Paulina took in a deep breath, taking a moment to run a hand through her hair and put herself back together. She smiled thinly again and slowly held out her arm. She waved her hand, motioning with the capped lipstick in her hand.

“Finish it,” she dared. “I know you want to.”

Danny stared at Paulina, at the lipstick in her hand and the cursive on his locker.

Dash was stepping forward.

He almost reached forward to grab Dash’s arm and stop him. But he could hardly move, and he had to focus on staying ghost.

If Dash wrote on his locker, he’d lose it. His invisibility would fade, and he'd expose himself.

He watched patiently, and despite everything that had been confusing him, Danny found himself trusting Dash undoubtedly.

Dash took the lipstick and tossed it aside, zero hesitation in his movements. Danny sighed audibly, but this was covered up by Dash’s voice.

“Leave.”

Paulina glared at him, lips pursed. She crossed her arms and spoke sharply, “I hope you’re happy being alone, Dash. I was your last chance.” She turned on her heel and marched away, never once turning back to look at him, at them.

As soon as Paulina turned the corner, Dash let out a long exhale. He stood there silently for a while, which gave Danny a chance to regain his own composure.

He was shaky as hell, but he was all in one piece. He hadn’t phased back, accidentally gone visible, or fallen out of his floating state. But even as an intangible, ghostly being, he could still tell that his hands were clammy and his heart was beating much too fast and he desperately needed to lie down. Danny was feeling all of these mix of emotions, and he hadn’t even been the one actively involved in the confrontation. Dash must feel ten times worse.

After a few long moments, Dash walked towards the bathroom and returned with a handful of wet paper towels. He walked towards Danny’s locker and worked on scrubbing away the red lipstick profanity on the green of his locker. Danny’s chest swelled up, a warm, happy feeling finally breaking through the tension. Dash had defended him, and now he was cleaning his locker. Dash still gave a shit about him. Even if he was probably upset with him, Danny was relieved to know that Dash still gave some semblance of a fuck about him.

When Dash was done cleaning up, he tossed away the dirty towels and headed towards his original destination, the locker rooms. Danny floated after him, his body still in a confused daze from the confrontation he’d just eavesdropped on.

The locker room was empty. This didn’t seem to bother Dash as he headed straight for his locker.

Dash sat down on the wooden bench before his locker and sighed heavily, finally letting his shoulder’s drop with that breath. He stared at his locker, and his unblinking stare had Danny’s stomach in knots. The feeling only worsened when he saw Dash wipe at his face.

“Shit,” Dash whispered to himself, hiding his face with his hands. “Fucking hell, shit, shit.” His voice cracked at the end of his words and he sniffed loudly, the sound echoing throughout the empty locker room. There was not a soul sharing the locker room with him, except for Danny, of course.

Danny watched with a heavy heart as Dash finally dropped the act. God, he was such a _jackass_ for thinking that Dash was in no way affected by anything that had happened between them that past weekend. He should’ve known, better than anyone else, that Dash was too much of an expert at hiding his feelings behind that wide grin and laidback attitude. But no, it took Danny seeing Dash cry to realize that he wasn’t the only one having a rough day.

He was so sorry. He needed Dash to know that. He was so damn sorry.

“Dash.”

Dash’s shoulders tensed. Danny covered his mouth with his hand and mentally cursed himself as he began to back away. Dash looked up over at him and he stopped in his tracks. But, of course, Dash couldn’t see him. Dash was probably thinking that he was going crazy. Good going, Fenton.

After a long beat of silence, Dash got to his feet and began to open his locker. He put on a hard face, as if deciding he wasn’t allowed to be upset anymore. When Dash began to peel off his shirt, Danny turned around and decided he was done eavesdropping on Dash. He left the school and flew back home slowly, a heavy feeling in his chest weighing him down the entire flight home.

 

Danny was not very good at articulating words. It was difficult for him to pass along the perfectly worded messages from brain to mouth. Something would always get lost on the way there.

But the importance of saying his words pushed him forward. He had to explain himself, he had to apologize to Dash, he had to make things right now that he wasn’t _drunk_.

Things would go better than they did on prom night. They had to.

Danny watched the football players’ from his seat in the empty row of bleachers. He’d shown up during the very last second of the practice, however, someone in the team failed to catch the ball and they had to stay an extra ten minutes.

The sun was beginning to set, turning moist air crisp. Sweat ran down the chests and backs of the players as their muscles worked hard. Danny tried to watch them as a group, but his eyes kept finding Dash, who seemed to be clueless of his existence. That didn’t last too long; once the game ended, players noticed his presence and began to point him out to Dash, playfully shoving his shoulder. And Dash wasn’t the only one to notice him. Kwan was staring at him, too.

Danny stood from his place on the bleachers and made his way down towards the field. The football team began to file out of the field and into the locker rooms. Danny watched Dash from the corner of his eye, wondering if he’ll file into the locker room as well. But he seemed to be hesitating, waiting for Danny.

“Fenton!”

Danny tripped over the last bleacher and fell face first onto the dirt.

He felt himself being pulled to his feet via the back of his shirt. Kwan pulled him up so that their faces were inches from each other, and Danny was forced to look Kwan straight in his glaring eyes.

“Kwan!”

Kwan held his stare with Danny, refusing to break his gaze even with Dash approaching them. Danny’s eyes darted between Dash and Kwan. Maybe this was the ass-kicking he was promised. Maybe the two were about to gang up on him.

“Kwan,” Dash repeated, less of the incredulous shout from before, and more of a stern command. Kwan stared at Danny for two long beats before letting him go. Danny stumbled back and straightened out his shirt.

“Don’t think you’re off the hook, Fento-“

“Kwan, _please_ just… let me handle this. Seriously.”

Kwan huffed and walked away, towards the locker rooms. This left Danny and Dash by themselves, and Danny painfully aware of this situation.

Danny shifted on his feet. He wasn’t really sure what to say. He’d recited sentences over and over in his head on the drive there, but the words had suddenly left him. What felt like hours passed before Danny finally opened his mouth to say the phrase he _knew_ needed to be said.

“I’m-“

“I’m sorry,” Dash said, cutting him off. Danny’s mouth stayed open in mid-shock and mid-sentence.

“Wait, what?”

“I’m really sorry, Danny,” Dash said, running a hand through his damp hair. “I’m sorry I made you leave. I didn’t even let you explain yourself.”

Danny blinked at the precious boy before him. All this time, Dash had felt... guilty? “Dash, no, oh my god, no, you have _nothing_ to be sorry for.”

“But I-“

“Can we just talk about what _I_ did to you for a second?” Danny asked. “You have to acknowledge that I did a pretty shitty thing.”

“Danny, it’s no big deal-“

“But it is, Dash!” Frustrated, Danny raised his voice slightly. He caught himself, though, and cleared his voice. “Dash, you are… amazing.” Dash’s eyebrows raised, and Danny smiled slightly.

“You’re a great guy, you’re smart, you’re a passionate athlete… You deserve a lot more than an insincere promposal from someone who didn’t even want to go to prom with you at the time.”

The reality of the situation was setting in. Dash was probably untrusting of Danny, questioning the sincerity behind all of their interactions.

“I fucked up, Dash. I should've just... been honest with you, from the start. But things were so difficult. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, and you just seemed so... excited, so I went with it.

"But I need you to know that I do like you, Dash. I _really, really_ do. Everything we did, all of it, I enjoyed. The conversations we had, the texts, those were all sincere. I didn't, like, articulate my words around this lie. I _honestly_ love talking to you, and hanging out with you... I know that I meant to ask Paulina, but honestly, I’m _so_ glad I texted you by mistake. Or, well, by Sam’s doing.”

“Sam?”

“She, uh, gave me your number instead of Paulina’s.”

Dash smirked. “I’m starting to like Sam.”

Danny smiled, feeling the tension in his body, and in the air, lessen. “I’m glad I didn’t go out with Paulina because, well, she’s a bitch.”

“Very true.”

“And I’m glad I went out with you, because you’re amazing, Dash.”

“That _might_  be true.”

Danny chuckled. The sun was already setting. A nice chilling breeze made its way through the field, brushing against them and filling the silence.

“I’m sorry about Saturday.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not.”

“No, I mean, it’s not but… I accept your apology.”

Danny smiled widely. “Yeah?”

Dash chuckled. “Yeah.”

Danny’s chest felt warm. God, he was so _relieved_. Not simply because Dash had forgiven him, or because things were fine, but because things were… honest. He was glad he got everything off his chest.

“Hey, uh, are you doing anything right now?” Danny asked him.

Dash pointed a thumb towards the lockers. “I gotta shower, yeah.”

“Oh, well, um, do you think I could… take you somewhere afterwards?”

Dash smiled at him. “Sure.” He leaned forward and gave Danny a quick peck on the lips before walking off to the locker room.

Danny watched him leave, eyes traveling his broad shoulders, sweaty back, and the grass stain on the seat of his pants. Once Dash entered the building, Danny headed back for the bleachers.

The constant knot of worry buried in his stomach had finally undone itself. Now, all he had were stupid butterflies and a final sense of calm.

Things were going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!!  
> Sorry this took so long; work, moving in, class, and tutoring takes up a lot of my time. But I did it! And we are almost done (^;  
> What would ya'll do if I like.. ended it right there. Kind of a nice end note huh? "Things were going to be fine."  
> Just kidding, though. Next chapter = last chapter. Sad to see it go... P sure this is like, the only fic I've ever finished. All thanks to your encouragement, of course! I'll never be able to thank you all enough.   
> Anyways, until next chapter!


	8. Chapter 8

The drive was silent, but pleasant. The sun had set, changing the sky from its soft orange to a pitch black. Dash leaned forward and turned on the air to a soft breeze. Cold air brushed against Danny’s hands on the steering wheel. He could smell Dash’s body wash. For some reason, it made Danny’s heart squeeze.

They finally arrived at a clearing that overlooked Amity Park. From their position in the car, Amity Park was a collection of sparkling lights. Headlights traveled into, through, and out of the city. The sight always left Danny in awe. He’d often visit the clearing after ghost hunting, or on sleepless nights.

After a long silence, Dash spoke up. “Danny?”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you bring me to make-out hill?”

Danny turned, looking offended. “What?! This is _not_ make-out hill. Make-out hill is more westward.”

Dash was laughing. “Sure, Danny.”

Danny felt his cheeks flush. He was only so offended because the idea of people regularly using _his_ spot for make-out sessions ruined the sanctity of such a pleasant spot.

“Whatever,” he scoffed. “I didn’t bring you out here to _make-out_. Come on.” He opened the door and was met with a cool night breeze. The two piled out, heading to the back of his car. Dash met him there just as he was opening the trunk of his car.

Inside the trunk was what, at first glanced, looked like a random array of miscellaneous items. Danny dug around said items while speaking.

“Y’know how I said that for a promposal, you deserve flowers and fireworks? Well,” he stepped away from the trunk holding a box of sparklers.

Even without the light of the sparklers, Dash was glowing. He had a grin so huge on his face, he looked like a kid. Danny couldn’t help but smile back.

The two boys tore into the pack and divided the sparklers, Dash insisting they both have an equal amount.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Danny assured him, “I have ten other boxes in the trunk.”

They sat on top of the car’s trunk, away from the city lights so the sparklers could shine brighter. Danny handed Dash his lighter and watched Dash’s face light up with the sparks from the small firework. Dash’s face illuminated by the sparkler was a lovely sight. His eyes were ablaze, though not because of the firework wand held in his hand.

Danny couldn’t help but admire the boy sitting next to him. He couldn’t help but feel his chest flutter as he examined his messy hair, his firm jaw, the lines around his smile. Dash turned and caught him in his stare.

“Aren’t you going to light yours?” Dash asked, holding out the lighter for him.

Danny reached forward and, instead of taking the lighter, he took Dash’s hand and leaned forward. Dash met him halfway.

Dash pulled away and gasped. Danny’s heart fluttered in panic.

“Wha-“

“I dropped my sparkler!”

Danny sighed in relief as Dash slid off the trunk and stepped carefully on the dying lights of the sparkler.

“You scared the shit out of me!” Danny whined.

“Sorry. What if something caught on fire?”

Danny rolled his eyes and shook his head. He looked for the box of sparklers, but his search was interrupted by Dash’s hand on his. He faced him, Dash a few inches shorter because of Danny’s position on the trunk. Danny was overwhelmed with a sudden urge to kiss Dash’s forehead.

So he did. A quick peck on the forehead.

Dash laughed and smiled up at him. “You’re such a dork sometimes.”

“Whatever,” Danny mumbled, reaching forward to run fingers through Dash’s still damp hair. The movement brought a subtle scent of coconut into the air. Danny leaned forward and pressed another kiss on Dash’s forehead.

Dash sighed, placing his hands on Danny’s hips. He nudged his face on Danny’s neck, pressing kisses up and down the side of it. Every time his lips touched Danny’s neck, small shivers of energy crawled down to his shoulder. His face flushed; he wasn’t sure whether he wanted Dash to keep going, or if he wanted to pull him into a kiss.

He opted for the latter, placing both hands on either side of Dash’s face, then let them travel to the back of Dash’s head, fingers running through his hair. Dash inhaled sharply when Danny’s fingers teased touches against the skin hidden under the neck of his shirt.

Suddenly, Dash pulled away. Danny moved his hands away from their place around Dash’s shoulders. He shot him a worried look.

“What’s wrong?” Danny asked softly. Dash looked hesitant. His hands on Danny’s hips suddenly felt very heavy.

“This is… real, right?”

Danny blinked. “What?”

“Nevermind, it’s nothing.”

When Dash move his hands away from him, Danny reached forward and grabbed one.

“No, hey, Dash. Come on, what’s wrong?”

It wasn’t nothing. It was written on Dash’s face, on his suddenly sullen look. There was a different tension in the air, and all Danny wanted was to help get rid of it.

“This isn’t all… part of some plan, or something, right?”

Danny wasn’t sure what to say.

“I’m sorry, it’s stupid-“

“No, no, Dash, it’s not stupid,” Danny said softly, pulling Dash back towards him. He pulled Dash into an embrace, placing his chin on top of Dash’s head.

“I’m sorry I made you feel this way.”

“You didn’t,” came Dash’s muffled response.

“I did, I made you doubt us,” Danny said. He pulled away from Dash and locked eyes with him. “This is real. I really like you.”

Dash nodded slowly. He still looked unconvinced, or, at the very least, uncomfortable to move forward. Danny reached forward and gave Dash another peck on the forehead.

“Let’s stop, yeah?”

“Okay,” Dash agreed. He reached for another sparkler and dug around for the lighter.

“Hey,” Dash said, the sparkler springing to life, “I’ve got fireworks, but where are my flowers?”

Danny used Dash’s sparkler to light his own. The light illuminating their faces doubled. “They’re in the back seat. Hold on.”

Carefully, Danny slid off from his seat on the trunk of his car. He walked to the rear passenger side of the car and opened the car door, grabbing the flowers with his free hand. Mindful of his sparkler and its proximity from the flowers, he walked back to Dash and offered him the collection of roses, carnations, and daisies. Dash’s smile was wide and flustered, as Danny had predicted. Flowers for his floral boy.

“I wanted to keep with the theme,” Danny said. Dash tossed his now unlit sparkler and took the bouquet in both hands. He couldn’t stop smiling. It was ridiculously cute.

“I love it,” Dash said. “Thank you.”

“You deserve it, Dash. Honest.”

 

Names.

Names after names after names.

Danny wanted to drone them all out, but he didn’t want to miss his name. He didn’t want to miss Dash’s name, either.

Danny sighed, searching the rows of seats for Tucker. He was supposed to be sitting in the same row as him, but since he was in the top ten, he was in the first row. And, despite being so clearly visible, Danny could see Tucker tapping away at his phone, probably playing some Gameboy emulator.

Danny turned to look for Sam. He immediately caught her staring up at the sky, an annoyed scowl on her face. She seemed to have felt his stare, though, and looked down to see him. She gave him an eye roll and shoved her finger gun in her mouth, pulling the finger trigger. Her head lolled to the side and she kept her eyes closed, pierced tongue hanging out of her mouth for added effect. Danny scrunched his nose and smiled, turning back around.

“Dash Baxter.”

The rows of students erupted into cheers, as well as the crowd of guests on the bleachers. Danny joined the cheers, feeling his chest swell up with pride as he watched Dash, dressed in a red cap and gown, walk up the wooden steps of the podium.

A chorus of, “Dash, Dash, Dash, Dash!” could be heard from the bleachers, probably from the younger members of the football team. Dash’s face looked red; Danny wasn’t sure if he was embarrassed, or just really happy. It was easy to assume the latter was true.

Dash shook hands with several members of the faculty, ending with Mr. Lancer and Principal Ishiyama. Mr. Lancer handed him his diploma, and then he was to move on to shake hands with the Principal and smile for the camera. Afterwards, he made his way down the other side of the podium, but not before turning to the crowd and throwing his fists in the air. Danny’s cheeks hurt from grinning.

“Daniel Fenton.”

Danny didn’t expect so many people to cheer for him. But he could definitely hear Sam and Tucker’s cheering, and maybe even Dash’s.

“That’s my best friend!” Tucker shouted, once the crowd had died down.

“That’s _my_ best friend!” Sam countered. Danny glared at them from his place in the podium before focusing his attention on the photographer taking his picture.

More and more names were called, and it was eventually their turn to scream for Sam. She had looked like she couldn’t be bothered while she sat bored in the rows of students, but now that she was up there, receiving her diploma, she couldn’t stop smiling. Were her eyes watery? Danny couldn’t tell from his place in the crowd.

Once all the names were called, Mr. Lancer gave a final closing speech.

“Casper High Senior class, you may now switch your tassel from the right side of your cap to the left.”

Danny did as told, an airy feeling filling his chest.

“Congratulations, class of 2015. You are officially high school graduates.”

The students erupted into victorious cheers as hats were tossed in the air. Students rushed to each other, falling into happy, tearful embraces. Danny was soon tackled to the ground by both of his friends, and the three melted into laughter.

“Whoa, Sam,” Danny said, propping himself on his elbows to look up at his best friend. “Are you crying?”

“No!” Sam shouted, pulling away from him and swiping at her eyes. “I’m just- grass got into my eyes.”

“Sa-am’s cry-ing, Sa-am’s cry-oW.” A swift punch on the shoulder resulted in Tucker’s silence.

“Whatever. I just realized that shit’s going to change now. And, well, I’m going to miss you guys.”

Danny felt an awful sense of loneliness fill the back of his mind. Sam was going to an art school two cities over. Tucker was going out of state. Danny would attend the nearby community college. Things were to change.

“Fuck.”

Sam and Danny looked over at Tucker. Tears were streaming down his faces, and his glasses were starting to fog.

“I’m gonna miss you guys, too!”

“Dammit, Tuck,” Danny laughed. “You’ve got me all teary eyed, too.”

Tucker full-out sobbed as he tackled his friends into another embrace. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too, Tuck!” Sam and Danny both said. Danny rubbed Tucker’s back and let his head fall back. His friends were absolutely the best.

As Danny stared at the darkening sky, Dash slowly came to view, shading Danny from the stadium lights.

“Dash.” As soon as he’d said his name, Sam and Tucker were scrambling off of Danny.

“He’s all yours, Baxter,” Sam said, giving Dash and Danny a small salute before sauntering off, pulling Tucker with him.

Dash offered him his hand, which Danny gladly took. Dash pulled him onto his feet and then into an embrace. The sudden motion had caught Danny off guard, but he eventually lost the tension and melted into Dash’s hug, going so far as to close his eyes shut. Dash smelled really nice.

“Wait,” Danny said, pulling away from Dash. “Where are your parents?”

“They’re waiting in the car,” Dash said. “They wanted to go take me out to eat.”

“Wait, so they’re not gonna take any pictures?” Danny asked.

“Nope. They figured Kwan’s parents could just send us theirs.”

“Wow,” Danny mused. “That’s kind of…”

“Shitty?”

“I was gonna say lazy, but shitty works.”

Dash chuckled, wrapping his arms around Danny’s waist. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“I’m gonna miss you.”

“Everyone’s saying that!” Danny whined. He didn’t need to be reminded that Dash, too, was to go off to a state university, taking advantage of his football scholarship. “Can’t we just be happy we’re done with high school?”

“Fine,” Dash laughed. “Thank god that’s over.”

“Danny!”

The two boys quickly stepped away from each other. They tried to act as un-tense and totally natural as possible as Jazz rushed over to them, Jack and Maddie hot on her tail.

Danny prepared himself as Jazz ran full speed at him and eventually threw herself at him, trying to tackle him to the floor like Sam and Tucker had. But Danny kept his feet firmly planted to the ground and was able to catch Jazz, no problem. He spun her around and she erupted into happy laughter. Once they stopped, Danny set her down gently and she tackled him into another hug.

“Congratulations, little brother!” she laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“Aw, ugh, Jazz, gross!”

“Smile you two!” their mother called. Jazz, again, went to kiss Danny, and Danny gave the camera a repulsed look.

“Oh, come now, Danny. Can you look a little more pleasant?”

“Not when Jazz is trying to kiss me,” Danny said.

“I should get going,” Dash announced, giving Danny a wave. “It was nice to-“

“Wait!” Danny said, pulling away from Jazz’s hug. He rushed over to Dash and immediately grabbed his hand.

All of the color drained from Dash’s face. It was almost hilarious.

“Mom, Dad, I wanted you guys to meet someone.”

Danny’s father looked stunned. Danny’s mother just about passed out from happiness.

“Oh my goodness! Daniel Fenton, why didn’t you tell us any sooner?!”

“Am I really being reprimanded right now…”

“Honey, don’t look so scared, I don’t bite!” Maddie laughed, going to shake Dash’s hand. “I’m Danny’s mother, Maddie, and this is my husband, Jack.”

Danny let go of Dash’s hand and let him get acquainted with his parents. The color slowly came back to Dash’s face, but he still looked nervous as hell as he shook Jack Fenton’s hand.

“And I’m Jazz, but, we’ve already met,” Jazz said, giving Dash’s hand a quick shake.

“Right, um, I’m Dash. Sorry, I should’ve said that earlier I- I wasn’t expecting any of this at all.”

Danny’s parents laughed pleasantly. Jack gave Dash a reassuring slap on the back.

“You should come to dinner with us, say, Baxter?” Danny’s dad offered.

Dash shook his head. “Oh, no, I couldn’t intrude like that! Besides, my parents wanted to take me out to dinner, which is why I should be going…”

“Oh, no, of course, dear! Tomorrow, then, how bout it?”

“I, uh-“

“I’ll convince him, mom. Come on,” Danny said, pulling Dash away from his family and towards safety.

“Wait, a picture!”

“Mom-“

“Let me get a picture of you and your boyfriend, Danny!”

Danny groaned and turned back towards his family, giving the camera a smile. Dash smiled wide as well, but his body was tense and awkward and-

 Danny couldn’t believe it. It had gone well. He was so happy, but Dash was still busy dying mentally.

“Alright, alright, go on. Come on, Jack, let’s give them their privacy.”

Danny sighed as his parent’s walked off, his mother looking over her shoulder with a big grin on her face every once in a while. Jazz would do the same, and when they managed to do it at the exact same moment, Danny realized how freakishly alike they looked. It sent an odd shiver down his spine.

“Warn me next time.”

Danny blinked. “What?”

“Warn me next time I’m about to socialize with your parents!” Dash exclaimed, taking off his cap to run a hand through his hair. “Shit, I almost puked.”

“They loved you,” Danny reassured him, once again intertwining their fingers together. “You were wonderful.”

“I was awkward.”

“ _Wonderful_ ,” Danny repeated, giving Dash’s hand a squeeze. Dash stopped walking and Danny turned to look at him. Dash was smiling again. Smiling at him.

“You’re great,” Dash said as he pulled Danny closer.

“I’m pretty okay, I guess.”

“Kwan’s throwing another party later. Wanna go?”

“Huh… do I get to play beer pong with prom king over here?”

Dash smirked.  Danny wrapped his arms around his waist as he leaned closer to him. “If you’re good.”

Dash slowly pressed his lips against Danny’s, the two melting into a long kiss. They weren’t really worried about everyone else, though Danny had a vague worry in the back of his head of showing up in the background of someone’s graduation pictures. Dash’s hands went to his face, holding him closer to deepen the kiss. They pulled apart and locked eyes with each other.

“I like you so much,” Danny whispered.

“Me too,” Dash said, before they fell into another kiss.

Dash didn’t have to question the validity of his feelings. It was clear, through the way they kissed, through the way he held him, that he didn’t doubt them anymore.

Danny couldn’t be happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure what year to have them graduate, so I put my highschool graduation year. Because I'm lame.  
> Oh man, this is it guys! The end! El fin!  
> I'm actually so so proud of this chapter. It's one of the few that I was like "Yes, this is awesome," throughout the entire editing process.  
> But yeah, that's it! I feel I ended it well, how bout you guys? Tell me what you think!!  
> I do plan on writing another fic w these two boys. So please do stick around!! I'm unsure of when that'll be out... but if you're looking for updates on how my writing is going, hmu @thecutestprince on tumblr and twitter!!  
> Also hmu for any other reason! Maybe you're like "yo this would be a cool oneshot idea, matty (me) should write that shit." Send me a message, I'll probably puke w excitement at the suggestion. Maybe you want more danny phantom talk nonsense. Maybe you just wanna chat? I'm always down for any of this!!  
> But... yeah... this is goodbye to this fic. It was a great run, guys. Thank you all for your encouraging and supporting comments! I really could not have finished this thing without your guys' amazing love and support.  
> Thank you for the kudos, the comments, and thank you for staying with me!
> 
> (edit on 7.11.16: Hey ya'll! I just wanted to add this at the end of this fic, but I just wrote a chapter to a new dp fic feat. these two boys! It's called 'Acoustics' and its very cute and dumb. Love it. If you click on my profile, should be the first one there. Check it out, if you'd like! Thanks! (also, to anyone who got a notification for this and is like 'wtf I dont care?'... sorry!) )


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